Nikita's Paradox
by siofrafire
Summary: Based on the original LFN series with Roy Dupuis and Peta Wilson. This is my twisted way of tying some of the weird inconsistencies and bizarre episodes that were written in the last two seasons. This story picks up with Nikita running Section and how she dealt with the loss of saying goodbye to Michael. Will their paths ever cross again?


Nikita looked down from the perch and scanned the site below her. For just a moment she expected to see Michael walking around the corner. Then the harsh slap of reality hit her as she realized that she would never see Michael walking through Section again. She tried to remember how she got here, standing above everyone, peering behind the infamous glass wall of Section One.

Nikita agreed to stay behind in Section, in exchange for the life of Michael and his son Adam. She loved Michael, and ultimately she had chosen to sacrifice her own happiness for their safety and freedom. Her decision to stay had kept them from dying and restrained Section's hands from harming them. She was emotionally black mailed into taking over Section at her father's insistence. Hah! "Father" now that's a term I use loosely," she couldn't believe that she was back in this hole. No matter how hard she tried, she could never seem to escape these dreaded walls.

Many decisions had been made here, about her life, her freedom and her relationship with Michael. Now, it was up to her to run Section. "Yeah right, I'm going to run Section?" Disturbing laughter escaped her lips and it caught her off guard. That very same laugh had penetrated her sleep on more than one occasion. It was reminiscent of the terrifying sounds she heard echoing off of the stark white walls in the insane asylum. She was in deep cover on a mission, subjected to psychotropic drugs, and electroshock therapy, her mind violated, and Michael abandoned her there for the sake of the mission. She had been fully trained to bury her emotions, and put everything behind her when a job was over, but the nightmare of that hellish-experience had tarnished her. For inexplicable reasons the sounds and smells of that horrific place had left its permanent mark on her, and branded her very spirit. Being an operative had stained her mind with so many abhorrent memories and had stained her hands with the blood of countless faces, many times she had seen their fearful eyes haunting her in her dreams. As her mind traveled down the side road of regret, she shuddered, shivering now, she wished she had put on a jacket this morning. She had sacrificed mind, body and soul for Section One, and as hard as she tried to stop it from happening, it had changed her.

With Michael gone, her days felt like lonely minutes ticking away at her vain existence. She thought about how her life without him would be void of any real substance. Before the sadness of reality had fully enveloped her heart; she felt a thought drifting over her mind. "Don't give up Nikita, I need you!" She knew for that brief, moment that wherever Michael was, he was thinking of her. As tears streamed down her cheeks, she darkened the perch until the wet droplets that seemed to have a mind of their own, quit betraying her orders to stop flowing down her face.

Several weeks had passed since Nikita had become "Operations." She was maneuvering through Section with more ease than she thought possible. People respected and admired her. Nikita was a natural leader, and she had an uncanny ability to oversee all the necessary components of daily life at Section. One thing that she absolutely despised was her involvement with interrogations. She was however, grateful for the "torture twins." They were both more than pleased to offer their services to Section, and they were completely dedicated to doing their job to perfection. She understood it was a necessary evil in this absurd world she moved and operated in. To her shocking surprise she found that she could tolerate it slightly better than she used to. She did take some solace in knowing its role was to help keep the "innocents" protected and alive, but it was a very minuscule comfort. Her need to use "Fric and Frac" was clear, but she was always uncomfortable around them and viewed them as one might view freaks in an old carnie side-show.

Nikita looked forward to finding a replacement for Madeline. She was hoping it would be sooner than later. Trying to find a suitable substitute for Madeline had proved more complicated than she had expected. To her surprise she had not been able to find anyone she felt was as proficient or competent as her former taskmaster. Madeline was ruthless, but brilliant, her talent in Section was second to none. She sometimes felt sorry for Madeline, thinking about the toll her responsibilities must have taken on her. She carried the full weight of being Section's Executive Strategist. Madeline spent seventeen plus years staying ahead of some of the world's most genius criminal masterminds. Not to mention being subject to Paul's constant demands of perfection. She held up above the pressure and it was more than most people could handle. Logic quickly removed all empathy for Madeline, and an ample amount of loathing soon took its place. Madeline, through the "Gelman Process," tried to strip Nikita of her humanity and had almost succeeded. Nikita was only left with revulsion and disgust regarding Section One's leading lady.

Nikita always believed that Madeline hated her more and more as the years passed by. She had an eerie suspicion that it had something to do with Michael loving Nikita more than the precious ideals of Section. Nikita thought Madeline blamed her for having ruined Michael, her perfect operative and protégé.  
When she first arrived at Section, Madeline was kind to her and it could even be said she showed her brief moments of tenderness. However, as time went on, she seemed to delight in the pain she caused her and perhaps even relished it.

Nikita knew that Madeline had an appetite for new recruits and took pleasure in training some of their very best Valentine Ops. She thought that Madeline probably trained Michael in the aspects of pleasing women. She never asked Michael about it because frankly she didn't really want to know if she was correct in her assumption. It was something she thought she might not ever be able to get over.

Nikita knew Paul had admired Michael's ability to execute missions to perfection. No matter how intricate or complex a situation presented itself, he always provided counter measures that got the job done. On the flip side it appeared to her that he also envied the way Madeline felt about their number one operative. It's not that Madeline openly pursued Michael; it was how she pursued Nikita with such disdain that gave Paul some insight into how Madeline must have felt about their accomplished phenomenon. Nikita could see how much Paul really loved Madeline and in her opinion, Madeline might have loved him at one time too, but clearly all she wanted in the end was his respect and friendship. Nikita suspected that Paul's ego couldn't handle the blow that ultimately was Madeline's rejection.

Operations' often took his own perverse pleasures in hurting Michael emotionally. He would carry out that task through whatever means he found interesting at the moment. Nikita thought that finding new ways to be cruel was a past-time for Paul, and he often used Nikita to achieve that goal when possible. She knew this was all speculation on her part, but it would definitely explain a few things about the tag team terrorists that seem to always have it out for the both of them.

Oversight was becoming impatient and had sent three more files for Nikita to download and look at. They told her she must decide on Madeline's replacement by the end of the week. Perusing the files, she found the pictures of the possible candidates for head strategist, three people were reviewed for the job, two of them were women and one was a man. Nikita, really didn't want to work with a man, she would choose a woman for the job if possible. She wasn't haughty or conceited, but men seem to gravitate towards her beauty, and in turn their inability to see her as capable and authoritative was extremely compromised. She didn't feel like having to deal with that aspect of what would already be an intense working relationship. She never had to worry about that with Michael. After years of working together, he saw her as an equal. Why do I always do that? Why do I keep comparing _everything _with _Michael_? I have to get him out of my head, "stop it Nikita!" She told herself. She tried to stay busy and to push the thoughts of Michael as far away as possible but everything about this place reminded her of him.

Section had been given very few missions while Nikita was rebuilding the bones of this forsaken prison. She knew that's how she would always view Section; as an unending, continuous, permanent life sentence, and the irony was that she was now the warden too.  
It took a lot of work to make sure Section was filled with proficient and competent people. One of Nikita's first orders of business was to bring Walter back, if he would have her. She had pushed the limits of their friendship countless times, and he had forgiven her, but she feared he might not bounce back from the monumental deception of her working for Center. She would never forget the look on Walter's face while having to explain that she spied and collected information on her friends in Section for her superiors. She wouldn't blame him if he couldn't forgive her this time. Of course, Walter loved Nikita and despite her dishonesty, he could never refuse her anything. To her pure delight he came back from the farm to be her munitions man, and she was very happy to be called his sugar again. When Nikita revealed she worked for Mr. Jones and told Walter that he was her "center" she meant every word of it. She had missed him and was glad he agreed to come back. She smiled every time she looked down from the perch and would see him tinkering on his gadgets. She was always amused to see Walter working the room and flirting with every female, young and old, that he came in contact with.

Nikita had also been familiarizing herself with all the different levels of Section. She studied every procedure and file for hours at a time. She poured over all the schematics of the entire building until she memorized every nook and cranny and secret corridor that section had to offer.  
On one of her adventures exploring, she had come across the place where the entire collection of discs from the neural scrapes were stored. She was remembering how the previous head of Oversight, George, ordered all the key operatives and leadership in Section canceled on a black directive. However, they were not to be eliminated until they all had their memories downloaded to a disc. This sparked an idea in Nikita.  
Just a week before her recent discovery she had been given Intel that Jason, Birkoff's twin brother, had been in a horrible car accident and he suffered from severe internal bleeding. It was still questionable whether he would survive his traumatic injuries. Presently, he had complete amnesia and the prognosis was not good that he would ever get his memory back.  
Nikita wondered, if he didn't recover from his amnesia could they download Birkoff's memories into Jason? She would put that idea on the back burner until they found out if he was going to pull through, and if his memory loss was temporary or permanent.

Nikita realized after days of working nonstop to the point of almost collapsing from physical exhaustion; that the force that was driving her was Michael. She took to heart the words he had spoken to her when Paul and Madeline had taken away his status as a level 5 operative. They were punishing him for being with her. "Whatever I do, I need to do it well. The best I can. That means something to me." She knew that Michael would never know how driven she was, but she wanted to make him proud of her just the same as if he had been there.

Michael was happy to have Adam back in his life. A piece of himself had returned to him with Adam's homecoming. He knew he had to be strong for Adam, but what he didn't know was if he had any strength left to navigate through the quagmire his life had become. He imagined it would take a great deal of patience and time to get Adam to fully trust him again. He fixed Adam's dinner; he always enjoyed cooking but Section left little room or time for the small pleasures in life. It brought him some satisfaction to prepare a simple but elegant dinner for the both of them. When Adam was busy getting ready for bed, Michael sat down in the next room thinking of Nikita. He had endured torture many times, and had the scars on body and soul to prove it, but nothing he had ever been subjected too was more agonizing than being separated from Nikita. Every time he was with her, all the years of pain and regret melted away.

Before Nikita came into his life he had lived in an emotional fortress, partly because he had lost Simone, his first wife, and partly because Section had turned him into the perfect operative and killing machine. They used Michael's talents to train other recruits and they exploited his ability to artfully deceive women. He was an astounding operative but it came with a price, and it was much too high a cost. He was imprisoned by his own lack of feeling. He remembered telling Nikita "I don't know what love is anymore… but the only part of me that's not dead is you." Nikita brought the keys that set him free. All he had to do was listen to her heart beating or smell the sweet scent of her skin, to know she was his freedom from the dark. He could spend hours nuzzled in the crook of her neck or kissing the curves of her body. Time stopped when they were together. Her warm caress was like a healing balm, medicating the wounds that only she could address. She understood him and she was flesh of his flesh. Together they were one and they belonged only to each another. Nothing else mattered when he could look into her aquatic-blue eyes and see nothing but love reflecting back at him.

Nikita got clearance from Oversight to bring in operatives that she and Michael had trained as young recruits. Nikita would have requested each one of them, but because she had kept up with their progress, she knew out of the original five they had trained only two had survived.  
Jasmine and Claire would now be joining Section One. Both girls had reached level one status. Nikita knew that both of these young women would be valuable resources to Section One and to herself as well. She wanted to surround herself with people she could rely on and trust. However, Nikita still had to deal with the problem of Michael not being in the field or herself for that matter. It left a big gaping hole in their ability to tackle higher priority missions. Oversight was also updating Nikita on the main directory from all Sections and wanted her to choose some higher level operatives to help her return Section One to being fully operational.

Nikita was reviewing who she could use for an abeyance mission, another job she despised, when she received a phone call from Oversight.  
"Hello Nikita."  
The blood drained from her face and she could not believe what her ears where hearing. There was no mistaking whose voice that was. Silence filled the space between them and Nikita could not bring herself to say a word.  
" Yes, Nikita it's me, Paul."  
Finally she was able to form a thought.  
"_They told us you died trying to save Adam."  
_" You know some of us have nine lives Nikita."  
She knew that had been true for Michael and her, and looking back over the past few years, she could now see how the same held true for Paul.  
"_Leave it to you Paul to ruin the only decent thing you ever did in this world."  
_"And what was that?"  
"_**DIE."  
**_"Come now Nikita, that's not really a fair statement, I did try to save Michael's son and as I recall there were more than a few occasions that I could have had you canceled and didn't."  
"_Paul why are you calling me?"  
_"Aren't you interested as to why they saved me Nikita?"  
"_Just as long as you stay out of my life I don't really care."  
_"Well Nikita, this isn't just a social call."  
"_And I thought we were having so much fun chatting about old times."  
_"I hear you have taken to the job of operations like a duck to water."  
_"Please get to the point Paul, I don't have all day."  
_"Well Nikita, I just wanted you to be one of the first people I told about my wonderful news. I've just been given George's old position at Oversight, so you will be answering to me now. I guess I didn't have to wait seven years for that review after all."  
A_gain, silence echoed on the line between them._  
"Nikita...Nikita are you still there?"  
"_Yes, Paul."  
_" Let me officially say then Nikita, welcome home to Section."  
Nikita didn't hang up the phone right away; she just held it listening to the dial tone ring in her ear until it went silent. She knew that Paul could be cruel and merciless, and she was certain that he would demand retribution for Madeline's death and retaliation for being manipulated by her in Section. The thought of how he would choose to measure out that vengeance was more than terrifying to her.  
Then reality set in, if she left Section, Michael would no longer be safe from oversight's reach, and he and Adam would suffer the consequences of Paul's hatred for the both of them. As much as she liked entertaining the idea of leaving, she knew her love for Michael would keep her in Section and under Paul's control.

Michael had no idea that Paul was running Oversight. He did have some minimal access to some low priority information in Section, but it was very limited. He could gain entry through some back channels he had left open that he knew no one would be monitoring. Michael tagged the medical files in Section to alert him if Nikita's name ever came up in the database. He wanted to be alerted if she was ever injured or worse.  
He had learned a few tricks while in Section and covered his tracks with some safeguards that he hoped would prove sufficient.

Nikita received word that Jason survived the accident and would not recover his memory. Needing Oversight's permission she ran her idea by Paul and he concurred that giving Birkoff's memories to Jason would be a practical solution to having Birkoff's talent back in com. Nikita informed Walter about her plans and he agreed that it would be a good solution to a very crazy situation. Walter and Nikita pledged to never reveal to Jason who he really was, and after the procedure, from that day forward, he would always be known as Birkoff.  
When Jason awoke as Birkoff he was told his lapse in memory was due to the accident and the trauma he had received to his head. Eventually Birkoff was back at com and life was returning to normal around Section. Nikita felt terrible about the deception, but deep down, she was glad to have Birkoff back. He was like a brother to her and she loved him very much.  
She couldn't believe she felt the end justified the means and it shocked and horrified her to think she was becoming a part of the things she hated most about Section. She was doing whatever it took to make the machine that was "Section One" stay oiled, running smoothly, and moving forward.

Nikita was feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed because Madeline's replacement would arrive today. After reviewing all the material that she had on the potential strategists, even though she didn't want to work with a man, in the end she chose Elijah. He had moved up fairly fast in the organization. His ability to out maneuver the opposing side was only matched my Madeline herself. He was tall with black hair, and green eyes, and he was originally from Italy. His profile stated that he had a natural ease with people, and was able to size them up in a matter of seconds with great accuracy. He excelled in psychology, statistics, and interrogation techniques. He was reliable, hardworking, and loyal to the Section's ideals. He put work first and had not been involved with anyone serious for the last three years, and those were just a few of the highlights on his profile.  
Nikita was thinking about how much detailed information Section compiled on people and wondered how long they watched her before they dragged her into Section. The thought of it creeped her out, she never did like Section's big eye watching her. A smile crossed her face when she remembered throwing all the surveillance equipment she found in her apartment at Paul. She remembered how satisfying it felt and she remembered the twinge of a smile she saw cross Madeline's face. She almost thought she even detected a bit of pride.  
Nikita was feeling guilty because of the intrusion on Elijah's privacy. She read the most intimate things about his life and it made her uneasy. Even though she was "Operations" she didn't feel comfortable invading people's privacy. Especially because she valued her own so much. She already knew so many things about him, personal things, and it just felt strange meeting a stranger that you knew better than a best friend.

Elijah came walking through the door and Nikita froze in her tracks. It's not that he looked like Michael in the face but physically his height, and build, and even his style of clothing mirrored Michael's in every way. When he walked around the corner into command center she could not believe how much his stride paralleled Michael's own walk. She knew she had to stay focused. She told herself to snap out of it and quick. His job was reading people and she wanted to maintain her control. She remembered Michael's words about being in charge of people. "It's best to be ruthless. But, if you're not ..., it's essential to appear that way."  
The last thing she needed was Elijah perceiving her as weak and trying to side step her authority. So she put her best game face on and smiled the way Madeline had taught her to do. She waited with her hands behind her back until he reached her, and she held out her hand offering him a welcome to Section One. He said he looked forward to working here and assisting her anyway she needed him to. She showed him to his office and told him to settle in and they could talk a little later.

It was eerie the way Elijah reminded her so much of Michael. She went to the perch and darkened the room. His presence brought back memories of Michael that burst open like a broken dam flooding her thoughts with every encounter she had ever had with him. She kept saying his name over and over, Michael, Michael...each time it was like a vice grip around her heart. Daydreaming, she recalled every time they had made love and what an adventure it always was with him. There were so many things she missed about him, the way his curls tickled her nose when her face was buried in his neck. She missed the way he kissed her face like she was a delicate, china doll, starting with her forehead and slowly working his way down her eyes and nose and then her mouth. His lips were delectable and the smell of Michael was always intoxicating and made her heady. His eyes could pierce her very soul and speak volumes to her even when his mouth was silent. She would lay her head on his chest and he would stroke her hair over and over. She always felt so safe and protected in his arms. She missed him desperately and was thankful she had her memories to keep him close to her.

Nikita was surprised that she actually enjoyed working with Elijah. She knew it would take a very long time to be in sync professionally as much as Paul and Madeline had been, but so far they collaborated very well with one another. They proved to be a very formidable team to their adversaries. He did share some of the same attributes as Madeline when he was "on the job" but unlike Madeline, he was able to hold on to his humanity.

Nikita went to work on picking her next team members. She had chosen a man by the name of Gerard. He was at one time Army Special Forces also known as "Green Berets". Later Gerard worked for different government organizations and privately contracted with them when they needed him for something "off book." Nikita read the deposition he had given after being arrested. She was curious to see the events that took place leading to him becoming a part of Section. "My full name is Gerard Robert Russo, I hereby give my statement understanding that I am under oath. On July 30, 1999 at about 6:30 P.M. I drove to Pete's Liquor store to get some cigarettes. While in Pete's parking lot two guys were crowding a woman and not letting her get back to her car. I walked over to where they were and politely told the guys to let the woman through. When they refused, I did what I do best. A few loose teeth and a busted nose later the guys were more than convinced to let her go. I walked into the store to get myself a pack of smokes. Being the friendly guy I am, I talked to the Joe behind the counter for a few minutes, and during that time I could see through the window that the two thugs came back with six more guys. I told the cashier to call the police and started to head out the door. The employee told me I should stay inside and wait for the police to show up but I ignored his advice."  
_Nikita knew this guy had more than a healthy ego.  
_"I just wanted to teach the punks a lesson about harassing ladies. Within seconds each one of them had their asses handed to them on a plate. Bones cracked, blood spilled and none of it was mine. I sat on the trunk of my car, smoking a cigarette and waited for the police to show up. I really didn't think it was going to be such a big deal. I could have left before the cops got there, but I wanted to let them know what those idiots had been up to. Before I knew it, they arrested me. I couldn't believe it. If I wanted to I could have killed the officers and left. I decided I would play it straight, and let the powers that be straighten it all out."

When he was arraigned, he was charged with assault, battery, and attempted murder because he was actually licensed to kill. The judge wanted to make an example out of him. The Court had a personal vendetta against him because of the line of work he was in. The judge didn't like his ego or the fact that he was able to side step the law. He thought it was deplorable that the government used people like him to accomplish certain kinds of objectives. This particular judge wanted to make a political statement, and made sure that Gerard paid a very high price. He revoked all of his Federal licenses to carry special arms. When his employers found out he got involved with the local authorities they cut all ties with him. Section had already been watching him, and with his situation being what it was, he was a perfect match. They faked his death, and he was more than happy to come to work for them. He lived and breathed the special ops life style. Nikita had some reservations about working with someone who had such a huge ego, but she admired him for standing up for the woman that was in trouble. She knew that his skill set would boost Sections numbers and decided he would be worth the risk.

Oversight sent Nikita her next operative. Jack's entire file was not available to Nikita, all she knew about him was that he was fluent in five languages and could pilot anything with wings. He was trained in Urban Reconnaissance and Surveillance, and he was highly skilled in evasion and escape techniques. He was quick thinking, and extremely capable in blood cover situations. He helped take down a notorious opium drug lord that was feeding money into a terrorist organization called _Faheem Alam. _They were responsible for over 35 bombings that killed and injured hundreds of "innocents." He was exceptionally handsome with striking features, which served him well when he was working as a Valentine Op. He had an impressive record, and he skillfully executed every order that was given to him. Other than that she didn't have the usual information that someone of her level nine should be privy to. Paul told her that at a later time he would update her files, but for now that was all she needed to know.

It had been a little over two months since she said goodbye to Michael, and yet it had felt like an eternity. She wondered in the few quiet moments she had to herself what he was doing? Did he miss her as much as she did him? She thought about Michael doing the mundane things of everyday life, like cooking, cleaning and scrubbing toilets. The thought of him with a toilet brush in his hand really made her laugh. She wondered if he was enjoying his new life or merely tolerated it for Adam's sake. He did tell her that someday he wanted to have children with her. They laughed about having the minivan, the dog, the white picket fence. She recalled how comfortable he seemed to be at home with Elena and Adam. He looked as if he truly belonged there. That was something that she could never fully wrap her brain around because he was so different at Section. With Elena and Adam he had been so open and generous with his emotions. Of course, he was "in play" on a blood cover mission, but she never knew if he really loved the whole suburban home life or if he had missed his calling as one of the greatest actors on earth. She wondered if he missed being "Michael" in Section. Nikita knew he loved Adam with all his heart, she had witnessed first hand how devastated he was when he lost him, but she also wondered if he missed the power and prestige of his position at Section. Nikita was thinking about many things when all of a sudden she felt sick, a horrible nausea overcame her. She barely made it to the bathroom and she lost everything she had eaten only a short while ago. She wondered if she was coming down with the flu? She had felt quite run down and tired lately. She figured it was due to all the stress she had been under trying to get Section up and running to full capacity again. She washed her face, brushed her teeth and looked in the mirror. She immediately thought she needed to get more sleep. Smiling to herself, she thought as awful as she looked she was almost grateful that Michael wasn't around to see her looking like a haggard beast. She would try to sleep tonight instead of thinking about him.

Jasmine and Clair had worked very well with Gerard and Jack, but Nikita and Elijah were both picking up on how much these girls were infatuated with the two of them. Nikita had to admit it was not unlike the way she felt about Michael when they first met, and she could see for the first time why Paul and Madeline were so against romance blooming at Section. It took away from the concentration of the operatives and their ability to give 100%. However, unlike Madeline, Nikita thought she could live with numbers being off by a fractional percent, and unless it interfered with missions being successful, she would not get involved.

"Operations...Operations," Nikita looked up from her computer, sometimes when she was knee-deep in her work, she would forget that she really was "operations" now.  
"Yes, what is it?" "Paul from Oversight would like to speak with you."  
"Thank you, put him through."

"_Hello"_  
"So, Nikita we are all very impressed at Oversight with how well your teams are doing. Elijah and you are maintaining the highest success rate out of all the sections."  
_"I doubt that your calling to congratulate me, so why don't you just tell me what it is you want."  
_"Nikita just because we have had a few bumps in the road doesn't mean we can't be civil with one another."  
_"This is me being civil Paul, now please tell me how I can help you."  
_"You always were a quick study Nikita. We have a mission planned and you are going to be in play."  
_"but I am out of the field Paul"_  
"Don't worry Nikita, its only temporary. I'll be sending over all the details shortly."

It had only been a couple of months since she was on a mission, but a few weeks off could mean the difference between life and death. She worked very hard at keeping her body conditioned and her skills up in Sims, and now she was glad that she had made the time to do that.  
She wasn't really upset about being out in the field again. She got tired of looking at the inside of this place, and she was pleased to have a reason to get out. Nikita was unaccustomed to having to stay so completely controlled all of the time. She just wanted to let off a little steam, and if it took a mission to do that then that was fine by her.

Planning missions, reviewing Psych files, briefing operatives, interrogating hostiles, checking the status of new recruits, answering to Oversight, and half a dozen other responsibilities took a toll on Nikita. She missed having the freedom she enjoyed as an operative, and that in itself was a shocking revelation to her. It wasn't that long ago that she felt like a caged animal, imprisoned by her zoo keepers at Section. That would be an extreme understatement compared to how she felt now. If she was in prison before, she was in solitary confinement now.  
She felt her eye lids getting heavy and was thankful that tonight she might be able to sleep. Just as she started to nod off and dream, Nikita was jolted out of bed and rushed for the bathroom door. Not again, "what the heck is wrong with me?" She turned on the sink to splash some cold water on her face, and then the realization almost knocked her off her feet. She reached for the sink to steady herself, only it had no effect. She was still shaking and thought she had better sit down before she passed out. She sat on the toilet with her head between her knees trying to breathe slow, steady breaths. "Oh my god" she said, "I haven't had a period in over two months!"  
She started calculating that last time she had been with Michael. _How could she be so stupid? It could be a coincidence, you are under an extreme amount of stress, that can make you late, and your nerves are on edge, that can make you sick._ On the other hand, she knew no amount of reasoning could dismiss the physical signs of what was happening to her body. She couldn't deny it any longer, she knew she was pregnant.  
She instantly started to cry because this was an impossible situation. No outcome would be the dream that her and Michael had shared for themselves. She slowly walked over to the bed and instinctively cradled her stomach. The thought, of a part of Michael growing inside of her was more than she could take in. He was with her, a piece of him, and she already loved this precious being she just found out about. Was that even possible? She didn't understand it. She was imagining being able to share this moment with Michael. Nikita saw how much Michael loved Adam, and between the two of them she knew this baby would have more love than earthly bounds could hold. "Oh god," she cried out, "it isn't fair!" She said sobbing. Hours passed, she was in and out of a tearful, fitful sleep. She knew that Oversight would make her end the life of this child or worse...She had heard stories that when women operatives got pregnant they would take their babies and raise them in a facility where they groomed them to be their perfect operatives.

Oversight would never let her go, and if she ran... They might let Michael live, she knew he could survive being recalled into Section, but there were no guarantees for Adam. She thought to herself they wouldn't kill Adam, they would just use him to control Michael. For a moment she almost considered the risk worthwhile. Even if she could avoid being caught, staying on the run when it was just herself would be extremely difficult, the dangers and hazards of living on the run with a baby would be nearly impossible. No amount of strategic thinking was going to solve this problem. She wished things were different, she thought of a dozen ways in a parallel universe how she would tell Michael that they were going to have a child. _A baby, a baby, she said softly to herself. She imagined a curly-haired, strawberry blond, chubby little...then she stopped. Don't torture yourself with things that can never be Nikita, and with that thought she closed her eyes, sealed off all of her emotions, and buried them so deep inside herself that she feared she would never be able to find them again even if she wanted too.  
_She woke up that morning with wet swollen eyes and no matter what she did or how much makeup she applied nothing was helping. One look at her and people would know that something was wrong. So, to cover her tracks she stopped by medical, one she wanted to confirm what she already knew was true and two, she could tell people she had a slight allergic reaction to something she ate. She was pleased with her cover story and thought it would put an end to any questions about why her face and eyes were red and swollen.  
Being Operations had some advantages, she could see the doctor and not be reported because he answered to her. She would threaten death to the doctor by way of white room if her secret got out.

Sitting at systems planning a mission with Elijah was proving very difficult, her concentration was off, and he was picking up on it. When he asked her about it, she told him she was tired from the antihistamine that doctor gave her for an allergic reaction she had.  
Walter came by to say hello.  
"What's shaken sugar?"  
_"Walter it's "Operations" here."_ Elijah smiled."_Not much Walter, I'm just trying to sequence this mission we're working on for Nigeria."  
_Walter looked at Nikita's eyes and instantly became concerned. He asked if he could speak to her in private. She didn't want to talk to him but agreed because she knew he would never stop asking questions until he felt he got to the bottom of what was wrong. She just didn't think she could hold everything back from Walter, and she didn't want him to know about the baby. She finally excused herself and went to munitions with him.  
"Okay sugar lay it on me straight. What's going on with you? "  
She gave him the song and dance about the allergic reaction and he wasn't buying it. He had never known her to be allergic to anything before except for maybe Paul and Madeline.  
"No dice Nikita, what's really eaten you? "  
The only thing she could say was that she really missed Michael and being without him was worse than...well worse than anything she could think of. She was holding back tears when Walter gave her a squeeze.  
"I wondered how long it would take for you to let it all out. That's some heavy stuff you have to deal with. I know you love him Nikita, but you have to let him go and move on, that's the only way you can survive here and do your job."  
_"Maybe I don't want to survive Walter."_  
"Now Sugar, don't say that. Birkoff and I need you here, and so does Michael and Adam."  
Softly, Nikita whispered_ "I love you Walter."  
_" I love you too sugar."

Birkoff called for Operations to come to com. He only called her that when they were working.  
_"Yes Birkoff,"_  
"You wanted the file as soon as it came from Oversight."  
_"Yeah thanks"_ She gave him a quick wink before returning to the perch. Nikita was reading through the intel and after Elijah had a chance to make his recommendations she finished sequencing the mission.

Nikita started thinking about being pregnant and going on a mission. She remembered how it had affected Terry. Recollecting Terry dredged up all the feelings she had when she thought Michael might be the father of Terry's baby. She couldn't believe that it had been almost four years ago. It was at that moment she realized she had spent most of her adult life loving Michael.  
Sometimes, she wished that she could have denied her feelings for him because of all the pain their love had caused one another. But in the end, she wouldn't change anything. She never had a father, her mother was less than motherly, and she lived most of her life going from place to place. She lived on the streets, home was where ever she laid her head. She always felt blessed because she could choose to be happy despite her circumstances. She knew a lot of people just like her who couldn't cope and ended up on drugs or worse. She told Helmut once _"We live with ourselves and we die with ourselves and the choices that we make._" She guessed that was a philosophy she had always subscribed to. Loving Michael was like breathing air. You just do it…you don't think about it, it's not an option to stop breathing, and it was never an option to not love Michael. Her _choice_ to love Michael sprang from something deep within the universe. Together they spoke an intimate language only their souls understood. She knew they completed each other.

Michael was trying to settle into a routine. He enrolled Adam in school and tried to make his life as normal as possible. He enjoyed being there for Adam and he could see that his son was beginning to come out of his shell. He had endured so much loss in his young life, first Michael and then Elena. Sometimes he thought that Adam had hoped his mother would return like he did. He explained why that was not possible, but he wasn't sure if Adam accepted the truth of what he was saying.  
Michael didn't have to work. Nevertheless, he thought it was important for Adam to be raised in a home where things were not just handed to him on a silver platter. He wanted to impart to his son a sense of good work ethics and the value of working hard for your accomplishments.  
Michael took a job in construction; he knew he needed something to do physically that would wear his body out by the end of the day. That was the only way he could ever get any sleep...pure exhaustion. When the house was quiet and the day was over, he didn't want to spend hours laying awake thinking about Nikita and her new life without him. Fatigue was his escape from thinking about what could have been. Even with his "_brilliant"_ plan there were times when as hard as he tried to compartmentalize his life and keep it all separated, the walls would come crashing down. Nikita was always a part of him; she was never truly far from his thoughts.

Nikita was briefing Alpha team on their next Mission. She let the team know that Oversight had her "in play" on this one. Explaining the scenario parameters she detailed how they received reliable Intel of a Class-A Threat. "A sleeper agent is planning a job at the United Nations Security Council. There are fifteen members in total." She went on to explain,"they have ten non-permanent members and five permanent ones. We believe that the hostile is a woman.  
They have a meeting taking place in less than two weeks to pass a U.N. Security resolution. Intel suggests that one of the permanent member seats will be targeted for assassination. This narrows it down to the United States, China, Russia, France or The United Kingdom.  
Norway has a non-permanent member status in the U.N and its government has agreed to help us stop the impending threat on the Security Council. We have implemented a plan to fake the death of the dignitary that represents Norway's membership. My assignment is to stand in as her substitute and Jack will be posing as my husband. We are sending a team a week ahead to simulate the car accident and when that Phase is over, Alpha team will move in. Claire and Gerard will be working security detail and Jasmine will be posing as an interpreter. Elijah will be in charge of tactical and Oversight is running com from Section. Our goal is to stop the assassination by any means necessary. Pick up your panels at tactical, they will include the rest of the details, study them, and all of you are on close quarters stand by."

Elijah wanted to speak to Nikita about the upcoming mission. He knew most of the circumstances surrounding Nikita becoming Operations and felt that in the past few days she was dealing with the repercussions of having to stay behind in Section without Michael. He studied her profile in-depth and knew she and Michael had been deeply connected to one another. Lately, he had seen a change in her. Most people would not have picked up on the small subtleties because her game face was amazing. He sensed she was having some difficulty dealing with her loss. She was doing her job with efficiency and he admired her effectiveness in piecing Section back together again, but something was off. To the untrained eye she may seem to be fine, but to someone who understood the art of body language she did have some tell signs when things weren't going well. These were some of the things he had already figured out about her. When she was stressed her voice became authoritative especially when she wasn't exactly sure she had all the answers. Her posture changed ever so slightly when she was thinking of things other than Section work. She often smiled and used precision accurate kindness when she was actually frustrated with someone. He knew she always put her best foot forward and she was artfully vague when anyone would try to discuss her personal life with her. Elijah felt concern for her and although he didn't want to admit it to himself, he was starting to think about her outside of their working relationship. He was beginning to feel a need to help her deal with her past. He believed it would help her in her job as Operations, but he was also starting to understand that maybe he had a stake in helping her move past Michael as well. He knew it had been a few months since she was in the field and wanted to talk about how she was dealing with that. He had come to admire Nikita; she was beautiful, intelligent, and mysterious. He could see why Michael had given up so much to be with her. He would speak to her as soon as they had a moment alone. He liked being alone with her and he had not felt that way in a very long time.

Nikita was on the perch looking down at the team she had a hand in putting together. She was proud of what she had been able to accomplish in such a short time. She was also grateful for the proficient and capable people she had surrounded herself with and she knew that those choices had made her job much easier. While she was contemplating on these things, Elijah walked in and asked,

"Can I speak to you Nikita?"  
_"Sure Elijah, What's up?_  
"I know we haven't talked much about personal matters but...  
Nikita cut him off_  
__"and I would like to keep it that way; please don't get me wrong Elijah, I am not trying to be rude, but I think our working relationship should stay completely professional. The intricacies of this job are complicated. We work long hours day in and day out, in close quarters, and I think adding a personal component would not benefit either one of our positions in Section."  
_"Nikita, what I was trying to say is that it's my job to know when something is bothering you, and I am here to assist you professionally. I'm a capable psychologist, as well as a strategist, and when someone's personal life is out of sync it can affect one's performance at work."  
_"Are you saying that my performance at work isn't what it should be? Because we have the strongest numbers out of ALL the Sections."  
_"No, what I am saying is that it is my job to read people. I would be less than forthcoming if I didn't tell you that whatever it is you are going through right now, may affect your ability to achieve your goals in the upcoming mission."  
_"What do you mean, what I'm going through?"_  
"I'm not a mind reader Nikita; I can't tell you specifically what it is you are dealing with, but what I can tell you is that you are probably experiencing loss, sadness, possibly depression, and you are displaying signs of shutting down emotionally. As far as the mission goes, if you can't connect with Jack, you'll tip your hand to the hostiles. You put your life, the life of your team, and the targets life in jeopardy if you can't perform at optimum level. I am here to help you Nikita, you can talk to me. I can be extremely useful as a sounding board and confidant. I assure you Nikita, whatever you tell me would be kept in the strictest of confidence."  
_"I appreciate your concern Elijah, but my personal life is none of your business, and I sure as hell would never put anyone in danger because of "something I was going through"  
_"I wasn't trying to make you angry Nikita. I came to say what I needed to and my invitation to listen is always open. Please feel free to take me up on it whenever you want to. You know Nikita; you don't always have to hold the world up by yourself."

Nikita knew Elijah was right. She had to pull herself together; she would never forgive herself if her lack of concentration put anyone of her team members in danger. She didn't know how, but she would work on separating her personal life from Section life. Nikita recalled a conversation she had with Michael.  
"You didn't like the way I acted when I had to take charge?"  
_"You became a different person."_  
"No, the same person, just playing a different role. Something we all have to do in here to survive."

"I understand now what he was doing." She was amazed at what a spoiled brat she had been to Michael. She felt awful for the way she had treated him. Looking back she could see how vulnerable he had made himself to her when he said, "I think we should stay together." She fought back tears knowing she was responsible for wounding him on purpose, telling him _" I don't think I want that anymore"_ She wished she wouldn't have walked away that day when he needed her so desperately.

Nikita received confirmation from the doctor that her test results were positive. She had hoped that she was wrong about being pregnant. Nikita had to focus on so many things, including her upcoming mission. and so from that moment forward, until the mission was over, she would not think about the baby, about Michael, or about anything other than the mission. With that decision being settled, another one of Section's masks had been fitted to her face.

Paul was pleased to play puppet master, and had hoped his idea of putting Elijah with Nikita would eventually pay off. Paul had forced her to accept Jack into Section and he was sure his cunning deception would fool Nikita into believing it was Jack that she must be careful of. On several occasions Paul had told Nikita that she was a quick study, he always admired her exceptional instincts as an operative. She was very clever and he knew that she would expect retaliation from him for Madeline's demise and because of her ruse in Section. He handpicked Elijah and made sure that he and Nikita would be very compatible. He knew that he could use this relationship to his advantage. He might not have all the details worked out yet, but he had foreseen a wedge he could plant between Nikita and Michael. He congratulated himself on his creative and resourceful plan. He thought it had all the makings of a delightful hobby. He would've dealt with her more directly, but Mr. Jones had placed many safeguards within Center to protect Nikita. He was of the opinion if he couldn't cancel her, than he would inflict enough carnage in her life to reduce her to a pile of rubbish. In doing so, he would kill two birds with one stone. Because destroying Nikita would devastate Michael, and a devastated Michael would heep further pain upon Nikita. It was a win, win situation.

Michael came home from work and sat at his desk. He reached for his book when out of the corner of his eye he noticed his computer monitor was flashing an alert notice. He knew Nikita's file had been updated by medical. He felt his heart drop, he was afraid to open the file for fear of what he would read. Oh God! Let her still be alive! He waited for what seemed like an eternity, and then his training kicked in. He pushed away the fear and he deliberately and methodically started reading through the medical information. There was no Cause of Death Report! Relieved he took a deep breath, and kept searching through the information. He had hoped it wasn't serious. He read the next few words **result: positive for pregnancy. **His mind couldn't wrap around the words that he was reading, so he read it again. **Result: positive for pregnancy. **He looked at the name on the file just to confirm it was Nikita and to his shock and surprise it was.

He always wanted her to have his children someday. His remembered when they were in the Balkans and he watched how tender she was with the brother and sister refuges they had found. Peter and Sasha warmed up to her right away, especially Sasha. Nikita was so compassionate, and he knew then that she would make a beautiful mother given the chance.  
Then like a tornado sweeping through his mind his thoughts were picked up and slammed down into the present. Oh God! Nikita, he knew that as soon as Oversight found out, they would make her terminate her pregnancy.  
He remembered how Terry tried to escape from Section when she found out she was pregnant. He actually went to her house to convince her to have an abortion. He was only looking out for her best interest, but he was ashamed now at how callous he had been. Nikita risked so much for Terry, and he knew she would do no less for their child.  
His thoughts took off like a bullet train speeding down the track. He knew Nikita must be reeling with sorrow. It broke his heart to think of her facing all of this alone and on her own. He knew that she would never survive emotionally having to terminate the life of her own child. It was at that very moment, that Michael decided, no matter what, that he would find a way for them to be together. He was going to get Nikita out of Section even if it meant they would be on the run for the rest of their lives.  
As much as he loved Adam and wanted him to have a normal life, he already loved his new baby too. He would not idly stand by, and watch Section destroy his baby, or the spirit of the woman he loved.

Michael knew that trying to contact Nikita in Section was nearly impossible and extremely dangerous. He was going to need some help on the inside and was thankful he had previously learned that Nikita brought back Walter. He accessed the files on everyone's down time, he was sure he could reach Walter if he could determine when he was scheduled for some of it. To his surprise, he saw Birkoff was scheduled for down time too. Wasn't Birkoff on _permanent_ down time? He would ask Walter what the hell that was all about when he met with him.

A couple of days later Walter and Birkoff were enjoying a cup of coffee at a cyber café when Michael took a seat next to them. Both Walter and Birkoff were surprised to see Michael.

"What are you crazy? You know if they find you poking around here they're gonna bring you back into Section, and then what will happen to Adam?"  
_"They won't"_  
Walter looked at Birkoff.  
"They won't he says"  
_"Walter, I need to speak to you alone."  
_"No problem Michael, I don't want to know what's going on anyway. The less I know the better."  
Birkoff left to sit at a different table on the other side of the café.  
Michael looked at Walter with a question in his eyes and nodded towards Birkoff.  
"Yeah it's a long story."  
_"I'm listening"  
_In hushed tones Walter explained how Jason became Birkoff.  
"Michael, why are you here? If Oversight finds out, your life with Adam is over!"  
_"I need to talk to Nikita"_  
"Look Michael, I would love to help you but Nikita is having a really rough time trying to carry on without you, and if you contact her...you are gonna dredge up everything all over again."  
_"Walter it's important!"_  
"Not this time Michael, Nikita is trying to put the pieces of her life together. She stayed for you and Adam. Don't do this to her."  
_"Walter...did you know Nikita is pregnant?"_  
Walter practically spit his coffee out. "You knew she was pregnant and you left her in Section?"  
_"Of course not, I just found out a few days ago."  
_" I knew something was off, but when I asked her about it she said, she was missing you. She's been so strong! Ya know Michael, you'd really be proud of her and how she has that place humming."  
Michael half smiled.  
_"I'm not surprised."_  
"If Oversight finds out about her baby you know what they're gonna make her do."  
_"That's why I'm here Walter."_  
"Michael, did you know that Paul is running Oversight?"  
_"That's impossible he's dead."  
_"No, Michael he's alive and he holds George's position now"  
_"How ?"_  
"You know Section Michael, anything's possible!"  
_"Nikita is in even more danger than I realized. Paul will never let go of what happened to Madeline or the fact the Nikita betrayed him. Walter, I need some help on the inside."_  
"Sure Michael, you can count me in."  
_"If it goes bad this time, and you get caught helping me, Paul will never let you live."  
_"Yeah, well how long can an old man live anyway? I ain't scared to die, and if I die helping my Sugar, well than, that's not such a bad way to bite the dust."  
_"Do you know the next time Nikita will be away from Section?"_  
"Yeah, She's gonna be "in play" on a mission soon. Everyone was on close quarters standby but the U.N. Security Council meeting got pushed back a few days, and so everyone was told to stand down."  
_"Send me the details. I will arrange for Adam to be cared for but I have to meet up with her while she's away from Section."_  
"Sure Michael I'll have Birkoff set up a secure line and give you the 411 on the mission parameters."  
_"Do you think he is willing to take the risk?"_  
"No worries Michael he'll want to help if it's for Nikita"  
_"Walter don't let Nikita know that you're helping me. I don't want to add anymore stress in her life, and I don't want her worrying about any of us either. She has enough to deal with, and Walter don't treat her any differently either. She can't know you found out about the baby._  
"Yeah, alright Michael, it's gonna be pretty hard keeping my worry on the down low but I'll do my best."  
_"Thanks Walter"_  
Michael left and Walter thought to himself that was the longest conversation Michael ever had with him. He talked to him more in the last few minutes than he had in the last ten years

Nikita gave the go and all operatives going on the U.N. Mission were on the move. The first team to arrive had completed the simulated death of the Norwegian dignitary and it was time for Alpha Team to proceed.  
The U.N Security Council would be expecting Nikita, and her husband Jack to arrive shortly. When Nikita and her team arrived at the U.N headquarters on the East side of Manhattan, Nikita felt a spring in her step. The truth of the matter is she missed the action and the adrenaline rush of being in the field. Claire and Gerard were being briefed by the U.N. Private Security force about their detail. Jasmine made her way to the Interpretation Service Department and Nikita was being briefed by the Norwegian attaché about the particulars of the U.N. Resolution that would be voted on soon.

Nikita had to be able to flow freely in conversations with the dignitaries outside the General Assembly at different social events planned for the U.N. Members. Understanding why this resolution needed to be passed was very important. The situation regarding the diamond trade in Sierra Leone continued to constitute a threat of international peace and security in the region. She was reviewing all the information about the disarmament, Demobilization and reintegration program and of the efforts to extend the government's authority over the diamond producing areas. She knew if this assassination was allowed to take place it would put a halt on the resolution and that is exactly what the West African and Sierra Leone criminal organizations wanted. The money they would lose on such a resolution would be astronomical. She was being told something about the sovereignty and political independence of... When she got up from her seat and ran pass the attaché and bolted into the lady's room. Dam it! I never thought about getting morning sickness on the mission. She made it to the bathroom just on time. I can just see it now, engaged with hostiles, exiting egress and barfing a trail back to Alpha Point. She hated not having complete control over her own body. The thought never crossed her mind because she hadn't even allowed herself to think about the baby the last few days. She said she would put it out of her mind for the mission and she did.  
She marveled at how being an operative gave you the ability to believe your own lies. You can push things down so deep that you can forget how to feel. She finally understood what ten years of this life had done to Michael. She freshened up, went back to her briefing, and made her polite excuses about feeling ill from the plane ride.

Michael arrived in Manhattan a few days before the Alpha Team needed to be on site. He knew between coms and surveillance equipment he was going to have to be extremely cautious about alerting Nikita. He didn't want her to react to seeing him and tip-off anyone that might be listening or watching. Michael had already made arrangements to be the Norwegian diplomat's chauffeur. He would be picking up Nikita and Jack at the U.N and bringing them to their hotel. Michael waited patiently for the call that Nikita's driver was needed.

Nikita was being escorted by Jack down the walk way to the limousine. Michael was amazed at how beautiful she looked. He knew she was stunning, but seeing her in person after being away all these weeks made his heart beat just a little bit faster. Michael stepped out, he had his hat and sunglasses on and he was careful to keep his head down. He opened the door for Nikita and helped her in. When he touched her hand, she trembled. It was ever so slightly and nobody else would have picked up on it, but he did. He wondered if she knew it was him. He stepped out of the way so Jack could enter the car. He put their luggage in the trunk and got back in the limo. The dividing window was up so Michael couldn't hear what they were saying. She stared out the window for a few minutes looking off into the distance. He wondered what she was thinking about. They arrived at the hotel and Michael helped them out of the limousine, when he grabbed Nikita's hand he placed a note in it. He retrieved their luggage and handed it to the doorman and then he drove away.

Nikita felt the note in her hand and didn't let on to anyone that she had received it. She wrapped her arm around Jack's arm, and the happy couple checked into the hotel. They had a beautiful suite and Jack was already making himself comfortable. She told him she wanted to freshen up and change into something more comfortable. She walked into the bathroom and unfolded the note. She knew when Michael touched her that it was him. Michael's scent was always delicious and he had been close enough to her that she recognized that it was him. Her hands were shaking, what in the heck was he doing here? The note simply read meet me in room 412. She flushed the note down the toilet. She turned the shower on and slowly got in. What was she going to say to him about the baby? She knew there was nothing he could do about it, and to spare him the agony of what she was going through, she decided that she would say nothing.

She was searching for a reason to go dark approach. After her shower, she got dressed and told Jack she was going down stairs to get a manicure for the dinner party they had to attend later that night. He said it sounded like a good idea to him, and he was going to try to get a little shut-eye. Their instructions were to conduct themselves like any normal married couple so he didn't think twice about it.

Elijah was speaking to Nikita through her com unit and told her to be careful because they had just received some important Intel on the assassin. An informant picked up second-hand information that stated, Ryan Holt was an associate of the female assassin, staying at their hotel and possibly her boyfriend. She took the elevator ride down while speaking to Elijah, she stopped mid sentence…. "Nikita, Nikita, are you there?" Elijah only heard silence, he asked Birkoff to check and see if there was a technical problem. Birkoff assured him there wasn't. Nikita came back on com and told Elijah she was going Dark Approach. "Nikita why do you think it's necessary to go dark?" She didn't answer and Elijah was worried for her, he told Birkoff to let him know when she came back on.

She had to stop herself from running to room 412. She slowed her steps and paced herself. She wondered if she could look Michael in the eye. She knew in her heart that not telling him about the baby was the right thing to do. She just didn't know if she could stay strong enough to keep that secret from him when they were standing face to face. She stood in front of the door for a few minutes trying to will herself to knock. To her surprise before she could muster the courage, Michael opened the door.  
"Don't you want to come in?"  
_"Of course."_  
He walked up to her, tugged on her arm and pulled her in the room. He pressed up against her then walked around her and leaned up against the door to shut it. She was facing the room and he was behind her. He gently swept away her hair that was still wet from her shower, and pushed it past her neck so that he could kiss it. He covered her with sweet, soft baby kisses, sliding across her shoulders, neck and back. She was standing with her hands to her sides while melting into every kiss. Her skin was burning with every touch. Speechless she didn't even ask him why he was there. He turned her around and looked into her eyes, and with the electricity that was flowing between them he grabbed the back of her hair, and tilted her head back so that he could expose the fullness of her neck to kiss and nibble her. Nikita's desire for him made her head spin like an out of control plane swirling down, down, faster and faster. Her eyes were closed, but she could feel him looking at her through their exchange of kisses. When she opened her eyes and met his gaze she knew she would be a slave to his love forever. _"Michael"_ she whispered, _"I love you"_ the words that lulled him into her magic spell. He picked her up and carried her to the bed. She was already breathless anticipating the place she knew Michael would take her. A thousand suns, on a thousand days would never shine as hot or bright as Michael made her feel. He pulled her to him pressing his hands in the small of her back. She folded into him and kissed him over and over. He explored her body like he was discovering a new universe. He ravished her like each part of her was forbidden fruit, sweet and delectable. He spoke things to her that only he could say and her spirit drank deeply from the well of his passion. Michael craved her devotion and adoration and he wooed her into yearning for his skillful touch. Pressing into her wrist he held her hands above her head and kissed her throat. She breathed in deeply and exhaled when he bit her ear. He loved the noises she made when they were making love. He responded to her delights and made sure he gave her more of what she wanted. Her skin glistened with moisture from the exertion of their desire. He rolled her expertly on top of him and he watched as she threw her head back and skillfully brought him to the culmination of his need for her. She knew mountains had heights but Michael took her higher. She knew that oceans had depths but Michael took her further. With full recollection she recalled why everything was worth its cost. What Michael brought to her was pure desire. His love was all that she wanted. After they fell into an exhausted stillness they held onto each other like their very lives would end if they let go.

Michael wondered how long it would be before she told him about the baby.  
She wanted to say something, anything but no words would come out of her mouth. Quietness filled the space around them.  
"Nikita, I love you."  
She laughed nervously and coyly said_,"Obviously"_  
"What's the matter Nikita?"  
She almost blurted everything out to him, but she buried her head in his chest and bit her lip instead.  
_"Michael why are you here?"  
_"Nikita, I know"  
_"Know what?"  
_"About our baby"  
Tears streamed down her face.  
_"How could you know? I haven't told anyone."  
_"I tagged medical to alert me anytime your name was filed in the database. I couldn't live with not knowing what was going on with you."  
_"Michael how are you going to still love me when they force me to...force me to"_  
"Nikita, I would always love you no matter what! I will always love you! That's why I'm here. I won't let them hurt you or our baby."  
_"Michael we can't survive living on the run with children."  
_"We will make a way Nikita."  
_"I want to believe that."  
_"Nikita I'm going to make it happen, I promise you that."  
_"Michael how did you know I was going to be here?"  
_"Walter and Birkoff helped me"  
_"Do they know?"_  
"Yeah, I had to tell Walter or he wouldn't have helped me."  
_"I have to get back or they're going to get suspicious."_  
"Nikita we can leave now."  
_"Now? Michael I have to finish this mission, thousands of people will suffer if Section can't stop this assassination."  
_"Nikita, we might not get another chance to get you away from Section like we have now."  
_"Michael I have to do this."_  
"You don't owe them anything Nikita, we have paid enough with our blood with our lives...Besides, you could get hurt!"  
_"Michael I could get hurt crossing the street or driving a car. Elena is proof of that."_  
"You don't have to tempt fate Nikita."  
She heard the desperation in his voice and thought maybe she should just walk away, and go with him tonight.

"_Michael as long as I'm in Section... You, Adam and I are all safe. We could use that time to prepare for our escape. As long as Oversight doesn't find out about the baby I... I'll be fine. I can finish this mission, and we can plan for a future that will give us a good running start. I can hide the pregnancy for a while longer."_

Michael knew she made some strong points. It would be beneficial to prepare more, but he wasn't comfortable leaving Nikita again. He put his arms around her and caressed her gently while rubbing her stomach.  
_"Michael our baby loves us already."_  
Michael laughed softly. "And how do you know that?"  
_"Because no baby in the history of the world was ever conceived in more love than what we have for each other."  
_"He grabbed her as tight as he could without hurting her and told her that it was true...very true."  
_"I have to go now Michael. I don't want to leave you but I need to get back."  
_" I know"  
Nikita got up and dressed and Michael quietly watched her. She leaned over the bed and kissed him one last time before she left.  
_"How will you reach me Michael?"  
_"I'll find a way"  
She smiled feeling like the world had been lifted from her shoulders and with that being said she walked out of the room.

Nikita was walking down the hall to catch the elevator. Before she reached them, the doors started to close. She couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. The doors closed and he was gone. Had he seen her? Would he recognize her if he did?  
She thought maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she knew herself better than that. She never forgot a face, and she knew it had to be him.  
She ran back to Michael's room and knocked. He opened the door and she practically ran him over trying to get in.  
"What is it Nikita, what's wrong?"  
_"I think I've just seen a ghost."_  
"I don't understand?"  
_"Neither do I Michael, I've just seen Stephen Wolfe."  
"_Nikita, are you sure?"  
_"Yes, Michael and you have to stay here until you find out what's going on. If I'm right, we can use this information for insurance. Think about it Michael, Paul would want to know his son is alive and where he can find him"_  
"If he's here Nikita, I'll find him." Michael slipped his hands around her and kissed her tenderly. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at her with his head tilted a little to the side.  
_"What are you staring at Michael?"  
_"You."  
He lifted her shirt slightly above her waist and kissed her stomach.  
Nikita ran her fingers through his hair while he rested his head on her.  
"Nikita, be safe," He said in a hushed tone.  
"_I'm not going to say goodbye. O.k. Michael?"  
"_Alright than, how about see you later?"  
_"Yeah, yeah that works. See you later then." she said with a smile._  
She put her hand underneath his chin and lifted his head so she could kiss him one last time before she left.

Nikita turned her com unit back on.  
"Nikita you're back."  
_"Yeah Birkoff."_  
"What happened?"  
_"I thought possibly our communications were in jeopardy of being intercepted."  
_"By Whom?" I wasn't picking up on anything.  
_"Ryan Holt"  
_"You've seen him?"  
_"Birkoff, how would I know if I've seen him if we don't have any pictures of him? Elijah told me he was possibly staying here at the hotel. I wanted to do a security sweep to make sure we weren't being compromised. I had two people following me to the spa" _

_Birkoff said, _"I would have told you sooner but this was the first time we have been alone. _"Told me what Birkoff?"_  
"Elijah is with Paul. I think that Paul ordered you to be shadowed."  
_"What, I'm Operations…he ordered me to be shadowed? Has the team reported anything back yet?  
_"Yeah, they've had communications with Elijah"  
Nikita's heart sank; if they hadn't done it already they would soon put the pieces together and find out that she had been with Michael_. Oh God what have I done?  
_Nikita wanted to know if Birkoff could use an encryption key to find out what those communications divulged to Elijah. Of course Birkoff would have no problem deciphering the text but what he didn't know was if he had enough time to do it before Paul and Elijah might show up.  
_"Hurry Birkoff, I know I'm asking a lot but please I have to know what they reported."  
_"O.k. here we go Nikita, you don't have to worry, it's actually Jack that they were shadowing. Paul wanted to gather some information on him.  
_"Do you know why?"  
_"No I don't, but they did report that you left your room and have been gone for almost an hour."  
_"Birkoff I am going to have to explain the long absence. Put me into the hotel system as having an appointment for a manicure and a massage. Make sure it looks like you booked the massage first. Let them know I swept the hotel and didn't find anything out of the ordinary, and now I'm getting my nails done"_

Nikita wore a long, strapless, red gown that fit tightly to her body. It was a sweetheart neck line and had a slit on one side that went to the middle of her thigh. She swept up her long hair into an up-do and crowned it with a dainty tiara. She wore a modest diamond drop necklace with matching drop-diamond earrings. She slipped on her long sleeve gloves that went just past her elbows. Her Porcelain skin was glowing and her red lipstick finished off her look. She looked in the mirror to check her appearance and had a flashback to the time Madeline first had her look in a mirror.  
_"Look at yourself. Admire yourself. See your beauty. You can learn to shoot. You can learn to fight. But there's no weapon as powerful as your femininity."  
_Tonight she could actually believe that and she was pleased with her reflection. She only wished that she would be going to the dinner party with Michael, instead of Jack.  
She stepped out into the room and Jack looked her over and flashed her a very handsome smile. "Nikita you look stunning tonight, not that you don't every night, but Wow!"  
Nikita laughed and said_, "Thank you. You clean up rather nicely yourself."  
_"I'm going to enjoy being your husband at the party tonight. You can be Bell and I will be the Beast or maybe I'll just be beastly."  
Nikita winked than scowled and said, _"Behave yourself Jack, we have work to do."_

Jack and Nikita went through security and entered the ballroom. Nikita looked around the room and was moved by the beauty of her surroundings.  
Being an operative makes you observant of everything going on around you. You pay attention to the tiniest of details. She noticed the hand carved woodwork around the ceiling and door frames. The room was lit with four enormous crystal chandeliers and the tables had the most beautiful flower arrangements on them.  
Of course everything looked different, more beautiful, and more spectacular after spending time alone with Michael. She thought to herself if this wasn't a mission and Michael was by her side, she would feel like a fairy princess in a children's bedtime story.  
She quickly came back to reality and took in all the information of the surrounding perimeter and was already alert of every detail in the room. She always made her way through her mental checklist. Exit points, other team members, possible vantage points for hostiles and a half dozen other things that the average person wouldn't notice.

Elijah wanted to make sure everyone was able to send and receive on their com units and when they were through testing everyone was ready to go.  
Security was extremely tight that evening. Jasmine was sitting at the table with the Chinese delegates, while Claire and Gerard were already on security detail. Jack was getting ready to dance a waltz with Nikita.  
Elijah watched them through surveillance and had a twinge of jealousy run through him and he was surprised because that was so unlike him. He thought to himself that Nikita looked breathtaking and he wished he was the one dancing with her instead of Jack.

Alpha Team was standing vigilant and went to work looking for anything out of the ordinary. When planning for this mission they picked up back chatter that alluded to a possible second shooter. Veronica was making her way to the ladies room and Nikita told Jasmine to follow her. When Jasmine got to the bathroom she quietly looked for the assassin. Another woman walked in behind her, the woman started freshening up in the mirror beside her and Jasmine immediately started doing the same so she wouldn't look awkward standing in the middle of the bathroom. The lady was making polite conversation with Jasmine, and she thought to herself, "I wish she would shut up and leave already." Jasmine turned for just a moment to look for Veronica. The woman next to her was adjusting her scarf, when suddenly she put it around Jasmine's throat and started strangling her. Jasmine began choking and gasping for air. Meantime, Veronica stood on the toilet and removed a ceiling tile to recover her nine millimeter that was fitted with a silencer, she had placed it there earlier in the week. Jasmine was keenly aware that the light around her was growing dimmer and dimmer. Reaching behind to stop her attacker she was failing miserably. She knew that this bathroom would be the last thing she would ever see if she didn't act quickly. She side stepped hard to her left and with the full brunt of her weight she swung her right elbow into the attacker's ribs. She heard them crack and the pressure was released from her throat. Coughing and trying to inhale air back into her lungs that felt like they were on fire, she tried to steady herself.

Veronica busted out of one of the stalls and pointed her gun at Jasmine. Jasmine reached for her firearm and Veronica shot her. Jasmine fell backwards into the sink and sank slowly onto floor. Jasmine felt the warm blood covering her abdomen and with the realization that she had been shot she closed her eyes and only seconds later lost consciousness. Veronica looked at her accomplice Stephanie and had seen that she was injured. She smiled and told her that it was nothing personal and shot her in the head. She walked out the bathroom door and quickly headed for her target. Elijah told the team that Jasmine was down and non-responsive. Jack stayed in the ballroom; Nikita ran to the ladies room and went to Jasmine's side. She checked for a pulse and found a faint, thready beat. She immediately called for medical assistance.  
Instantly she remembered how relieved she was when Jasmine and the rest of the kids had helped save her and Michael from being gassed to death. Her anger turned to rage and with fury she pursued Jasmine's killer with only the thought of revenge pumping through her veins.  
Veronica was making her way to the ballroom. Jack was already positioned there, but with so many people around, he didn't have a clear line of site on the target. He couldn't take a shot without endangering innocent collateral. Thinking of Jasmine first and saving the targeted U.N. member second, Nikita reached for her glock and shot Veronica in the back of the head. She had killed for revenge before, but today she wondered where the girl had gone that would have felt at least a tinge of regret. The mission would be deemed a success, but Nikita thought at what cost? She wondered if Paul had ever felt the burden of loss. Being responsible for the lives of so many takes an enormous toll on a person. She wondered if he was different before time and circumstance had made him the shell of a human being that he was today. She knew that death was the only constant in Section, but Jasmine and Claire held a special place in her heart. She wanted to protect them, and she desperately wanted Jasmine to recover. She asked Jack to stay with Jasmine until the medical team arrived.

Nikita put Gerard and Claire in charge of tying up the loose ends at the U.N.. She let Elijah know that she wanted updates on Jasmine's condition as soon as he knew anything about it.

Nikita took the hotel key she found in Veronica's purse. She wanted to gather whatever information she could about who hired her. She knew Veronica was a professional and the likely hood of her finding anything incriminating was slim but worth a look. She opened the door to her hotel room, if their intel was correct, the person she was staring at and that was staring back at her was Ryan Holt.  
Nikita quickly and forcefully escorted him to room 412. She secured the hostile making sure he could not get free and gagged his mouth. Grabbing a pen and paper she scribbled something down and pinned the note to him.

When Michael walked into his hotel room he saw the present that Nikita left for him. He read the note and all it said was here sits Stephen Wolfe. Get the details. For some reason he found the note very amusing. It didn't take long for Michael to convince Stephen that it would be in his best interest to be forthcoming about any information that Michael wanted from him.  
Stephen admitted that he had faked his own death. He got in tight with some hard core criminals, but he never really fit in. He did what he needed to do so that he could acquire as much money as possible. He was using the money to help him find his father. The government told his family that his father was MIA in Vietnam, but he always felt that it was a lie and that his father was really alive. After his mother became ill she didn't even recognize him anymore. When he got into more trouble than he could handle, he used Martelli to fake his own death to get out of it. . He figured he wouldn't really be hurting anyone and took on the pseudo name Ryan Holt. He was involved with Veronica for less than a year, he knew that she mercenary for hire. He never asked her questions about her life and she didn't ask any questions about his. That was what he loved about their relationship. Well...that and a few other things.

Michael knew they had their Ace and felt better about Nikita temporarily going back to Section. He knew the information they had would be valuable to Paul and they would keep it under wraps until they needed something to trade.

Nikita's mood was lighter than usual. She was encouraged by the news of Jasmine's condition. It looked like with just a few weeks of rest, she would be back to her old self and as good as new. Walter was happy to see his sugar back to her old-self. Sometimes Nikita, Walter and Birkoff would eat breakfast together at the same table where Madeline and Paul used to eat theirs. It always brought a smile to Nikita's face when she thought how outraged Madeline and Paul would be if they were able to see them breaking bread, laughing, and having such a good time where they planned so many details of their operatives' fates.

Elijah was also sensing Nikita's new-found happiness. Of course he didn't have to be a professional to see she had a bounce in her step, and a twinkle in her eye, since she came back from her mission. He wondered what had changed. He knew that Nikita guarded her privacy above all else, and asking about it would get him nowhere. He thought she was beautiful before, but now something was different about her. She absolutely glowed, and her illumination was irresistible.

Elijah met Lucy while training her. She was studying to become a Profiler. She was intelligent, beautiful, witty, and wise beyond her years. In his entire life he had never really felt about anyone the way he felt about Lucy. At one time he was content with just doing his job and trying to be the best at what he did.  
Lucy found a way into his heart. After Lucy, he wanted more from life than what Section alone could offer. The Sections always frowned upon relationships that became too personal and involved. Ostensibly he agreed with their policy, However, what sounded good on paper flew right out the window when he was with Lucy. She was a kind soul, and Nikita reminded him so much of her. He never thought he would get over the tragedy of what happened to Lucy, and in some ways he never did. His love for her had almost destroyed him. Scott was slated for an abeyance mission. Elijah had already reported his recommendation for his cancellation. He knew he was a loose cannon, and thought it would be wise for Section to get rid of him. Scott found out that he was listed for abeyance and he blamed Lucy for it. Already unstable, this information pushed him over the edge, and he wanted her to pay with her life. He raped and murdered Lucy in the dark halls of Section 3.  
When Elijah got a hold of him his rage was so deep, that man nor beast could stop what he was about to unleash on the doomed operative. He quietly and methodically tortured Scott, and he made sure it took as long as humanly possible for him to draw his last breath. The only words that Elijah ever spoke through those hours of the crucible was "this is for Lucy." No matter how much Scott begged for death, Elijah made sure that it didn't come until he inflicted as much pain and agony on him that he conceivably could.

Nikita was exhausted from the day and was happy to be crawling into bed. She turned over on her side and began rubbing her stomach. She always told the baby about Michael. It was a way for her to share this experience with him. She would tell the baby, "Your daddy is so handsome, and strong, and smart. He loves you so much and you're going to love him too." She loved spending that quiet time with this new life that was inside her. She already thought about the tiny baby that would be perfect and new. It wouldn't have scars from this cruel world inflicted on its pure little soul. She knew they would spend their lives making sure that no harm came to their children. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. It only lasted for a couple of minutes and then it went away. She was uneasy for a moment, but it passed quickly. She was happy to close her eyes and put the day behind her.

Nikita was alarmed because she heard her name being called. "What the hell?" She didn't know the source of where the noise was coming from. "Nikita...Nikita" she sat up in bed, and followed the noise. She opened the drawer next to her bed, and picked up the PF3 communicator. She was getting instructions from this strange transmitter again. Nikita always had the PF3 communicator close by ever since Walter and O'Brien helped her get it from Adrian's crypt. She thought of it as a good luck charm, it had saved her life. She remembered how she had suffered terribly from the side effects of the Gelman process. She experienced headaches, flashes of light, and an extreme amount of pain. She went on a mission and had almost died from being so disoriented. It was that small little good luck charm that had saved her life.  
At the time she thought it was Michael's voice that had given her instructions over the odd transmitter that looked like a piece of jewelry. Later she found out that it wasn't him. All she knew for sure was that the disguised voice was her guardian angel.

"Nikita"...

"Who are you?"

"That's not important."

"The hell it isn't! Who are you?"

"For now all you need to know is that I'm a friend. Nikita, look into file number MPNM19751977."

That was the end of the transmission. Nikita wanted to know what was going on and she wanted answers about whose voice was behind the instructions.  
She tried to go back to sleep but the bizarre transmission left her unable to stop thinking so she figured she might as well get up, and check the file out. She quickly got dressed and made her way to the stored files.  
She used the disc that Walter gave her so long ago, when she was trying to figure out who she was and why she had been brought into section. She knew it would get her to some level 12 material and hoped that the level would be high enough to download the file. She keyed in the code and to her surprise, line after line of information was being revealed. She started to read the information and she couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing.  
Nikita felt a pain in her abdomen, and this time it was not subsiding. The pain was getting worse and worse. She finished reading the file and went back to her bedroom.

Nikita's head was reeling. She couldn't process what she was feeling. It was too much! Her breathing was labored and she felt sick. Distressed about the pain she was feeling, and scared for the baby she sat on the edge of her bed. It was like she was watching a bad movie. She wished she had never seen that God forsaken file! Walter previously warned her not so long ago that she "May be starting down a road that won't come back." Oh God! She thought to herself, "why didn't I listen to him?" Overwhelmed by facts that she just read, she wished she could ignore and forget what she had seen. Nikita started to cry, she just kept seeing the horror play before her eyes over and over again...

When Section recruited Paul, he was trained as an operative and he was a very good one. He was highly skilled and moved up the ladder of Section quickly. He had met an equally gifted operative by the name of Madeline. She was beautiful, but deadly. A perfect combination for a female operative. Both Paul and Madeline were extremely useful. They were Section's dream team, and after a series of missions that they had completed together, they ended up falling in love. Section was against any and all such unions especially theirs. They didn't want anything to interfere with their job performance. They made it difficult for them and it drove their romance underground. Madeline eventually became pregnant. She never told Paul because she knew there was nothing he could do to get her out of Section. She felt there was no reason for him to suffer anymore than he already had. He had lost his wife and child due to his recruitment. Madeline never knew who from Center arranged for her to have her baby. She was going to go rogue, but before she ever could she was given instructions to tell the people around her that she was going on a deep cover mission that would last about five months. During that time she would be allowed to give birth to her baby, and then give it up for adoption. She ended up having fraternal twins, a boy and a girl. And the only thing she would ever be allowed to give them was their names...Nikita and Mitchell. Madeline never got over the trauma of having to endure the loss of her children, and she returned to Section a much different person. She never found out who from Center helped her.

Paul was so happy that she had returned to him, but things were never the same between them. Paul never understood why she was so distant. He knew she still loved him, but she never allowed herself to get as close to him as she once was. She put a wall between them that he could never penetrate. Madeline just closed herself off, and immersed herself into her work. It broke Paul's heart, and he both loved and hated Madeline. He wanted desperately to have things return to how they once were, but his pride never allowed him to show his desperation.

Nikita was one of the babies who were given up for adoption. She always wondered why she never looked like her mother, but thought she must have taken after her dad. The mother that raised her had a normal life at one time, but when Nikita's adopted father died so did a piece of her mom. She turned to alcohol and men, and Nikita paid a high price for it. She never knew what a real family was. She just couldn't wrap her brain around any of it. None of it! Why did Mr. Jones tell her that he was her father, and why did he sacrifice his life for Michael's son if he wasn't her dad? She had a hundred other questions and this information didn't give her any closure to her past it just fueled the fire to find more answers.

Did Madeline figure out she was her child? She once told her Operations was her father so she must have known. If she did, how could she have treated her so hideously? Did Paul ever find out? Was the file even true? For all she knew it could be a set up.  
She couldn't think straight and her body was suffering from emotional overload. She felt a twinge of pain again. She thought a shower might help calm her down, when she went to the bathroom she noticed she was spotting blood. Her heart sank. She hoped the baby was alright and she forced herself to relax and bring her heartbeat to a normal rhythm. She knew she wanted answers and proof before she acted on any of this. Her first priority was to stay calm. She didn't want to put her baby in jeopardy. Her next mission was to find out if Madeline knew she was her birth mother. She remembered when Madeline first met her and told her "We're family now, Nikita." Did she know then? Did she mean literally? Somehow Nikita had to find answers.

Flavius was a master strategist with a passion to fight the incessant evil that was so prevalent in this world. He was an extremely wealthy man who came from very old money. You could even say it was ancient money. His family had served on the side of justice as far back as the Crusades. That's where their wealth started to accumulate. Eventually they helped create an organization called The Sacred Order of CultusIustitiae Lumen. (The Service of Justice and Light) This was a secret organization that was responsible for worldwide affairs. They had been involved with making decisions about wars and dictators as well as the rise and fall of different governments. They had money, power, and a desire to see evil eradicated from around the world. They believed themselves to be above any law or authority, and they did not answer to anybody but each other. Breaking their oath of secrecy would be grounds for immediate death.

Eventually this organization morphed into what is now known as Center. Center had certain ideals to maintain and the wherewithal to see their goals accomplished, no matter how difficult the circumstances. Other men of power and influence joined Center to help keep up their power and wealth. They monitored the affairs of the world's governments. They had influence on every continent, and many times were in complete control of world leaders. There was always friction within Center; balancing power against internal corruption was never easy.

Adrian and George were a part of building Oversight. Oversight was an extension of Center. It was their responsibility, as well as a few handpicked others, to make sure Center's agendas were carried out to the very last detail. It was Adrian that birthed the idea of Section. It was her belief that in order for this organization to support their anonymity they would use criminals to become operatives. It would help maintain their obscurity. Faking the death of a criminal allowed them to use people who had no outside connection to the world. If they died on a mission there was no reason to explain to anyone why or how they died, therefore further shoring up the walls that kept Section inconspicuous. They used only criminals because it was also Adrian's belief that if they had to cancel an operative for lack of ability or quality of performance they could justify that act of cancellation. She truly believed it was an opportunity for criminals to find redemption through the act of serving Center. If they didn't happen to see it that way than cancellation was a useful motivator.

Paul was a very patriotic man. He loved his country and thought that is was an honor to serve in Vietnam. He never did understand why he was pulled into Section. He didn't fit the profile or the protocol that Section used. From time to time while running Section he would try to find out what the story on his own recruitment had been, but it was only out of curiosity. As a young man he was actually relieved when he found out he would be working for Section. The torture he endured in Vietnam had changed him. He knew while he was still overseas that as much as he loved Corinne, and his son Stephen, he would never be able to return to a "normal" life. He knew he would never be the husband or father that he once was, and his family deserved better than him. He felt he would be more useful in Section, and as hard as it was to say goodbye to his family, he fully embraced the duties his new life had to offer.  
Being at Oversight he thought he might once more dig in to the mystery that brought him into Section, and maybe this time he could finally get some answers.

Michael was preparing and making arrangements for Nikita to have their baby. He wanted to make sure that both she and the baby would be safe during her delivery. He hired a midwife to be available at a temporary safe house when the time came for Nikita to give birth.  
Michael tried not to worry about the inevitable dangers they would all face trying to stay ahead of Section, but he knew that failure was not an option. He would protect Nikita, and his children, and they would build a life together, of this he was absolutely certain.

Michael was home from work and Adam was home from school. Adam asked his dad if they could order pizza for dinner. Michael suggested they go to the store and get the stuff to make it themselves. Adam thought that was fine by him as long as they got to eat pizza.  
Michael was driving to the store when it started to rain hard. He could barely see the lines on the road in front of him. He turned on the radio and after a minute or two Adam turned the station. He was listening to something a little louder and more obnoxious than Michael was used to, but he was amused by Adam rocking out to the song he was listening too. The rain was really pouring now, and the pelting rain sounded like tiny hail hitting the windshield. He thought maybe it would've been better to have had their pizza delivered. They arrived at the store and while getting the ingredients for their dinner, Adam was telling his dad some jokes that he had learned at school earlier in the day. Michael was glad to see that Elena's good nature was a part of Adam. They got in line to pay for their groceries and Michael heard a gunshot. Instinctively he knew what the noise was and immediately Adam fell against him. He thought it was Section, but while a hail of gun fire was being sprayed, he heard a deranged man screaming about being fired and losing his job. Michael was hit and saw the bullet wound on his son's head, he knew he was already gone. Michael's blood was flowing and as his life force was seeping out from him, he thought of Adam, Nikita and their new baby. Then there was blackness and he surrendered to unconsciousness.

Nikita was briefing Alpha Team when she felt a shudder run through her body. Almost as if a chilled, arctic breeze blew sharply across her neck. For a slight second she lost her concentration. No one on the team but Elijah noticed. But of course he noticed everything about Nikita.  
She quickly continued with the briefing while the team listened to all the mission's details. When she was through, she dismissed everyone, and told them they could pick up their panels.

Nikita was standing in the perch looking down at com. She wasn't feeling very well, and she felt a little clammy. She needed to give something to Birkoff and began walking down the stairs. She became dizzy, and felt faint, and held on to the rail to steady herself.  
Walter came by to say hello, and noticed she had no color in her face. She was very pale, and had tiny beads of perspiration on her forehead. He was worried about her especially because of her condition.  
"Sugar, you don't look so good."

_" I don't feel so good, Walter."_

"Why don't you take a load off and sit down for a minute."

Nikita doubled over in pain and let out a small cry.

"_Walter I need to go to medical."_

"Sure thing honey, let me help you."

Nikita headed towards Medical room with Walter's help. The pain was so severe she had to lean on him for just a moment. Standing in the doorway, holding on to Walter, Nikita felt a warm fluid between her legs. Scared and horrified, she looked down and saw that blood was dripping at her feet.

"_Oh God! Walter, I'm losing the baby."_

Walter desperately wished he could do something, anything to stop what was happening to his Sugar.

"It's gonna be alright Nikita."

"_Walter, it's never going to be alright..." She said with tears in her eyes._

The doctor finished his examination and told her what her heart already knew was true. The baby was gone.  
Walter stepped in to visit Nikita and see how she was holding up.

"_The baby is gone Walter."_ She whispered to him softly.

"I know sugar." He said sadly.

"_Michael will be so disappointed."_

"Don't you worry about that honey. He loves you Nikita, he's just gonna be happy you're alright. There will be other babies"

She closed her wet swollen eyes and hoped that Walter was right. Walter stayed by her side while she slept. When Nikita woke up she told Walter that she needed to be alone. He didn't want to leave her, but he saw the determination in her eyes, and knew this was fight he wouldn't win. He agreed to leave and said he would look in on her a little later.

Nikita lay in Medical looking at the ceiling and staring at the lights above her. She observed the cold steel walls that surrounded her bed. There was no life in that room, just an empty barren space. She reached down to touch her stomach and she snatched her hand back as if a mouse trap was waiting to smash her fingers. Repulsion and disgust over took her and she became nauseated from the revolting thought that yesterday her womb was full of life and today it was a dark, empty, place of death. She started thinking about all the things she would never be able to do. She would never be able to kiss the face of her sweet, precious, baby or play with its little fingers and toes. She would never see Michael pour out his affection and admire the little life their love had created. She willed herself to stop thinking about the baby. She let her training kick in and buried her grief deeper than her mind was willing to go. She was grateful to disassociate so easily. She had become a star athlete at telling lies, and manipulating people, and circumstance. She marveled at her own stellar performance at being able to convince herself that she was going to be alright. And yet again, with another Section mask fitted to her face she would put the incident of losing the baby behind her. Her new focus would be on Michael getting her out of Section.

Days had turned into weeks and the weeks had turned into agony. She still had not heard from Michael.

Walter and Birkoff were awfully worried about her. They tried being a friend to Nikita and help her get through her loss. She just pushed them away with her fake smiles and small talk. She refused to even entertain the idea of discussing anything that had to do with the baby or with Michael. In fact she never discussed anything personal to anyone anymore. She put on her Section game face and went on with the business of being "Operations." Nikita knew that if she allowed even a fragment of her feelings to surface they would overtake her like a tidal wave. She feared that she would never be able to stop crying. Only when she was alone in her bed did she wonder where Michael was. She knew he was connected to her medical file so he would have found out about the baby. The way she saw it is there was only two possibilities, 1. he didn't love her enough without the baby to risk coming for her or 2. he had been killed. Either possibility was too dreadful to contemplate. Every minute awaiting Michael's return was a living hell.

Elijah did everything he could to endear himself to Nikita. He didn't let her know that he knew about the loss of her baby. Elijah had access to all of Section's medical files too.  
He had seen the day that Walter helped Nikita to medical and although he didn't break protocol by accessing her file, he knew he had broken her trust. He sincerely wanted to help her deal with her grief, but he knew he would lose her friendship forever if she found out he had spied on her.  
Paul had also been aware that Nikita was pregnant. He had hoped to use that against her at the right time. When she lost the baby he actually felt a little sorry for her. However, he didn't let himself get too carried away with sympathy.  
All he had to do was remember how she played him for a fool at Section, and how she had pushed Madeline into killing herself. Any ounce of compassion he had for her was dried up like a puddle in the Sahara Desert.

Weeks had now turned into months and Nikita was dealing with the realization that Michael wasn't coming for her. She went into survival mode and quit waiting for her rescue.  
Nikita's hours were filled with work as she consumed her duties at Section with a ravenous appetite. It was the only way she could get through the long days.  
She continued to receive glowing reports and accolades from Center. Nikita maintained a success rate that continued to outperform all other Sections.  
Even though Paul wasn't personally happy with her accomplishments, as far as Center was concerned, Section's victories were perceived as Oversight's triumphs. Her ability to attain Section's goals reflected very well on him.  
Paul was beginning to wonder if he should change his strategy concerning Nikita.  
He knew she would be miserable serving Section all of her days, and her misery was the stuff that sweet revenge was made of. He rather enjoyed the thought of her hard work helping his career at Oversight. "Yes," he thought to himself, "I will have to rethink my strategy."

Nikita never thought about leaving Section anymore, and she resigned herself to the fact that she would spend the remaining useful years of her life as Operations. Anytime she would start to think about Michael she would throw herself further into her work. Nikita still pressed towards finding out as much information as she could about Paul and Madeline. She had questions and lots of them. She needed to know if any part, or the entire part of the file she found was true. She knew that Section played many games with the "truth" whenever it benefited their agenda. Not knowing who was behind her finding the information in the first place made her question the file's authenticity. She had to find the truth no matter where the road led her. If she had a brother and he was alive, she wanted to meet him. She needed to find out if like herself, he was brought into Section.

Searching for more answers she came across a back up file that Quinn had filed in their data base. It was the Madeline AI program that she had created for Paul. Nikita thought about how much that hologram had creeped her out and how much she hated seeing Madeline's likeness used like that. Even so, she decided to get Birkoff's help and have him download all of Madeline's memories from the neural scrape disc into the AI that had all of her Psychological and analytical profiles documented. After all of these years, she thought maybe, just maybe she would finally get down to the bottom of why she was recruited into Section.

Birkoff wanted to know why Nikita was so interested in having Madeline "resurrected" so to speak. Nikita told Birkoff to just do what he was told and quit asking questions. He didn't like Nikita being so harsh with him, but he knew she had been through a lot and tried to remember what she was like before she lost the baby. He told her it would be a couple of hours before he was through. Nikita told him to call her immediately when he was finished.

Birkoff called Operations to lab four. When Nikita arrived Madeline was waiting for her. Birkoff smiled and said, "Wouldn't it be fun to slap her in the face." Nikita rolled her eyes and told Birkoff, "that would be all."  
With that being said, he shrugged his shoulders and left.

Even though she was very uncomfortable with talking to Madeline's AI, she began to question it.

"_Did you have a baby?"_

"I had two."

"_Were they twins?"_

"Yes, they were fraternal twins."

"_What were their names?"_

"Nikita and Mitchell."

"_What happened to them?"_

"They were adopted."

"_Was I adopted?"_

"Yes"

"_Are you my mother?"_

"Yes."

Tears were welling up in Nikita's eyes.

"_Do you know why I was brought to Section?"_

"No"

"_Was it a coincidence that I came to Section?"_

"That is a mathematical impossibility."

"_Did you know I was your daughter?"_

"When you came to Section I was curious about your name. I didn't think much about it except that I always liked that name. I placed only one condition for the family or families that adopted my twins. They must retain their first names. I thought it might help me find them later in life if I ever had the opportunity to look for them. There were things that Section knew about you that you didn't even know about yourself. When you came to us I familiarized myself with your file and found some odd similarities in the timing and circumstances of your adoption. I decided to test your DNA. I knew it was a long shot but deep down I never stopped hoping to find you someday."

"_How could you say that? You were so cruel and you even tried to have me killed."_

"I was not always cruel to you Nikita. Firm maybe, because I knew your life depended on it. I did not become"cruel" as you put it, until Oversight administered the Gelman process to me. They found out through my personal files that I thought were secure that I was going to tell Paul about you and your brother, and let you know that I was your birth mother and he was your birth father. On whose orders that directive was given I do not know."

Nikita was trying to digest all that Madeline's AI had told her.

She understood better than anyone what the Gelman process did to people. She had almost killed Michael, and she knew how much she loved him. It made perfect sense that Madeline had no emotions regarding her. Everything she thought about Madeline was softening and she truly felt sorry for her.

"Does Paul know he is my father?"

"No"

"_Why did Mr. Jones say he was my father and why did he sacrifice his life for the return of Michael's son?"_

"I could make some calculations about some probabilities but that is all they would be."

"_Madeline did you ever love me?"_

"Yes. Nikita, even though I am not really Madeline and cannot feel anything, I have access to all of her memories. At one time she loved you and your brother very much. She suffered greatly over the loss of the both of you."

"_Do you know who my brother is?"_

"Yes"

"_Who is he?"_

"You know him as Mick Schtoppel."

Nikita remembered dismissing that possibility when she found out that she might have a brother and was shocked to find out the truth of that matter.

"_Does he know anything about being your son or my brother?"_

"To the knowledge of Madeline before she passed away, no he did not."

"_Wow! Mick Schtoppel"_

"Nikita, it is not safe for you to know the information that you now posses and you must proceed with caution. I paid a high price for knowing these facts."

"_I still don't know why I'm here. Why wouldn't they just leave me where I was? If it wasn't you or Paul who brought me here, than who was it?"_

"I suspect that whoever helped me hide my pregnancy so long ago would know the answer to that question."

"_Do you know who that person is?"_

"No, I never found out, and it always remained a mystery to me."

"_Could it be the same person that has anonymously helped me?" _

"The probability of that is extremely high."

"_I wish I could have known a different side to you Madeline."_

"I would have liked that too."

Nikita actually felt a burden lift from her shoulders even though she knew she wasn't actually speaking to Madeline. Knowing that she really did love her at one time meant something to Nikita. She still had many questions, but having some light shed on her relationship with Madeline had brought her some comfort and it had been quite awhile since she had felt comfort of any kind.

Paul was contacted by Center they received intelligence on a class ten activity and wanted to bring him up to date.  
Per the request of Center, Paul arranged a meeting with Nikita at Section.

Waiting in committee for Paul, Nikita wondered what the meeting was about, and how she would feel about seeing him face to face now that she knew he was her father.  
The thought of that still made her queasy. She couldn't believe that his blood ran through her veins.  
It would be nice not to have him as an enemy she thought to herself. Maybe she would break down and just be honest with him. Honest, what a concept.  
Then she remembered what he had done to his ex-wife Corinne. She couldn't imagine that if Paul knew she was his daughter it would make much of a difference to him anyway.

Paul strolled into the committee room with an exaggerated air of confidence. In her opinion it bordered obnoxious.

"It's so nice of you to host our meeting Nikita."

"_I didn't really have much of choice now did I?"_

"No, I suppose not."

"_So, why are we meeting here anyway Paul? What's so important that we couldn't have just spoken over the phone?"_

"You're really going to appreciate this one Nikita...We are going to be working together...on a mission...in the field."  
He said smugly.

"_Please Paul; tell me this is some kind of a sick joke. You really do need to work on your sense of humor."_

"I wish I could say it was a joke Nikita, but sadly it's not."

"Why us...together?"

"Center received important information on a Class 10 Activity. Of course that means this is now Section one's highest priority.  
A Soviet Arms Dealer by the name of Adrik Grigorev is setting up a meeting to sell weapons-grade Plutonium also known as Pu-239.  
Jakko and Halina Alekseer are business partners. They also happen to be father and daughter as well. They specialize in facilitating transactions between different criminal and terrorist organizations. They broker deals for buyers and sellers alike and they are in the supply and demand trade. They distribute whatever is needed and they'll move anything for anybody. Weapons, drugs, fake documents and even people as long as it turns a profit.  
They are very good at what they do and they have eluded Section for almost five years. We have been notified by a reliable informant that they will be making the Pu-239 purchase on behalf of a terrorist cell called Femin Al-Sistani. The informant also has given us details about where Jaakko and Halina will be staying at for the next two days. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to grab them.  
This is going to be a threefold mission. You will put together your best Alpha-Team and apprehend the both of them. Once we have them in our possession, Elijah will interrogate and acquire when and where the Pu-239 is being purchased and when and where it is being turned over to Femin Al-Sistani.  
Adrik has never seen Jaakko or Halina so Center wants you and me to pose as father and daughter and take their...  
_Before Paul could even finish his sentence, Nikita laughed to herself and thought isn't this an ironic turn of events, the two of us posing as a father and daughter.  
..._place.  
We must secure the plutonium and take down Adrik. There can be absolutely no mistakes! If the Pu-239 is left on the market it can be used for a small portable nuclear device which could be easily smuggled to almost any destination.  
After that takes place, we will turn around and make the drop off meeting for the Femin-Al Sistani cell. "Any questions?"

"_No daddy...I think I got it." She said, sarcastically._"

Michael was chopping wood with Adam. He loved the way the pine trees smelled all around him.  
Nikita was sitting in an oversized chair, curled up with her cat, Roxel, and a good book. She enjoyed listening to the crackle of the wood in the fireplace next to her.  
Michael came inside the cabin and marveled at the sight of his beautiful wife and his equally beautiful sleeping baby girl. She was wrapped up tightly in the cradle he had made for her.  
He watched as the fire light reflected off of Nikita's eyes and he thought he had seen a small glimpse of heaven.  
Adam got out the Chess game to play on the floor while Michael stoked the fire. As soon as Adam was done setting up the pieces on the board as if on cue, Roxel jumped off Nikita's lap and knocked them all over. Adam got mad and started saying how lame the cat was. Michael just started laughing at him and Nikita joined in. They started laughing so hard that soon Adam joined them too.  
The baby, Alexandria, didn't think all that noise was quite so funny and she woke up. She started to fuss and Michael picked her up and began whispering softly to her. She was his delicate little princess and he would forever be her Knight in shining armor.  
Michael felt a hard thump on his head. He was being dragged out of bed by his hair. He couldn't focus through the fog that surrounded his brain.  
He heard someone yelling for him to get up but his legs were shaky and seemed to have no strength. He couldn't get his mind or his body to cooperate. He felt a sharp kick in his side and wanted to get up and beat the hell out of whoever was kicking him...wait, he thought to himself...why am I being kicked?...Where the hell am I? His eyes were beginning to focus...this isn't the cabin. He forced himself to stay calm he was trying to understand what the hell was going on. Remember damn it, try to remember something! Why won't this guy shut up? Why can't I remember anything?  
He stood up leaning his body weight against the cold concrete wall. He was almost back handed in the face when Michael reflexively blocked the hit and instinctively took the palm of his hand and struck his assailant in the face. Screaming about his nose being broken the bleeding man told Michael he would pay for that mistake and left to take care of his nose.  
Michael was like a caged cat. He turned his head in all directions looking for a way to escape. His body was weak and he couldn't even stand on his own without leaning most of his weight on the wall.  
He was trying to remember anything, any clue that would explain his circumstance. The last thing he could vaguely remember was riding in an ambulance.

Oh God! Adam...he was shot. He didn't survive! His heart was breaking all over again. His sweet, sweet boy. He couldn't catch his breath.

"Are you Michael?"

Where was he? Why couldn't he think straight? A voice from the room next door was saying something to him. He couldn't make it out so he hobbled over to a small hole in the wall.

"Is your name Michael? I heard the guards call you that."

"_Who are you?_

"I am a friend, my name is Amadi."

"_Where are we?" Michael asked puzzled and confused._

"In the pit of hell."

"_Do you know who these people are?"_

"They used to be part of a group called the Collective but that was virtually destroyed and now the new splinter cell group goes by the name of Femin Al-Sistani."

"_How long have you been here?"_

"About three weeks."

"_What is our location?"_

"We are in South Africa"

"_What is this place?"_

"It is a prison for the dead. Once you come here you do not leave until the Great Ancestors take you to the place of the Deep River.  
They have not killed me because I know where the brother of one of the guards is hidden. He has been kidnapped by my people and I am hoping to make a trade of his life for mine."

"_I don't know how long I've been here."_

"You were here before I came."

"I hear the guards speaking of you. They send a nurse girl to you each day. They wanted you to recover so they may gain information from you."

"_Do you know what information they want?"_

"No friend, I do not know. I heard you stirring for the first time since I came here about three days ago. You keep calling out a name. Nikita, Nikita, you say this same name over and over again.  
I heard the nurse, Kaya say you were awakening from your coma. They must have done something very bad to you."

"_Actually I was shot by...it doesn't matter. I have to find a way to get out of here."_

"I am telling you my friend there is no way for you to get out of here alive."

"_Do you know what month it is?"_

"It is June."

Michael couldn't believe that it had spent almost four months in a coma.

The young African girl, Kaya, came into the tiny cell. She told Michael, "Please sit before you hurt yourself."  
Michael did what he was told but only because his legs felt like they would buckle underneath him at any moment.  
She checked the bandages on his head and on his chest. He winced a little when she touched his side. The kick he got from the guard must have bruised his ribs he thought to himself. She shyly began talking to him and told him that she took very good care of him while he was there. He thanked her. She told him how she had worked his muscles everyday, but he is still very weak. She was quiet for a moment, and then got up the nerve to ask him "Is your woman's name Nikita?"  
Michael was silent.  
"You must love her very much! He looked up at her with desperation in his eyes. He wished that she would quit talking about her. She said she was sorry for the intrusion. "My father always said that I asked too many questions."  
She thought to herself that she was almost sad he was getting so much better. She liked taking care of him. He was very handsome and she could tell he was a gentle soul. She had seen the many scars on his body and felt so sorry for the soldier man.

Michael wondered how long he would have until his interrogation. He knew that when Amadi told him who these people were, they wanted one thing and one thing only. They wanted the location of Section.  
He hardly knew if he had it in him anymore to resist the torture he knew he would soon be facing.  
He thought of Nikita and the baby. He loved them so much. He couldn't bear letting anything happen to them. He guessed there was still some fight left in him after all.  
I will never lead them to Nikita, he told himself. He barely could think of her name without feeling so much shame he felt like he let her down.  
He wondered if she and the baby were o.k.. He wondered what she thought happened to him. He felt like he miserably failed everyone in his life he had loved.  
Michael heard the guard coming down the hall. He was already taunting Michael about his dead son. He knew that being in his weakened state physically meant that he would have to make up for it psychologically.  
He had not been a praying man in many years but he prayed for strength to stay strong even to death so that he would not betray Nikita's location.

The Russian guard said, "Aren't you curious to know how it is we found you Michael?"

_Silence…._

"When the man killed your son and the others at store, the news broadcasted killing spree. One of my men saw your face just before you were transported to hospital. It was not hard to find out which one."

_Silence…._

"Oh you think you are strong, man? We shall see."

Michael could tell that he was old school Russian by the way he was stringing his arms above his head. It was in the style of knots he used in the rope. The guard removed his shirt and ripped the bandages from his body. He cut open the wound that had almost completly healed from one of the bullets he had been hit with. Michael winced in pain.

He put his mind at the cabin with Nikita, Adam and the baby. Nothing could harm them there. Nothing could hurt them there. They all were safe and alive. He lived there while the torture continued.

They sprayed him down with water and electrocuted him.

"Where is location of Section One?"

_Silence…._

They broke two of his fingers.

"Where is location of Section One?"

_Silence..._

"You will tell me what I want to know. How much pain you go through that is up to you. You can stop this anytime. I will kill you quickly. You don't have to suffer. Just give me name of location!"

_Silence…_

_Michael spooned Nikita in bed. The kids were sleeping, and it was just the two of them in their rustic bed. He could feel the warmth of her soft skin all around him. He_ _buried his face in her silky hair and held her tight. _  
A tiny smile traveled across his face and his captor became even angrier. He gave orders to break his arm.

Michael heard the snap of his own bone, but what he saw was himself getting out of bed and breaking a twig to put in the fireplace for some kindle and adding a few logs to stoke the fire that was in their bedroom. He ran back to the bed and jumped in so he could get warmed by her body again. Lying next to Nikita he caressed her shoulders and kissed them softly.  
Michael was punched in the face and he was left unconscious from the blow.  
"Get him down he is giving us nothing... but he will. Take him back to cell. I do not want him to die before we get information!"

Kaya sneaked into Michael's cell to help him. She was putting her own life at risk, but when she heard what they had done to him, she had to come and help any way she could.  
She put his head in her lap and gently poured some water in his mouth. She had nothing to give him for the pain but some whisky she had stolen from one of the guards. She helped him drink some of that too. She washed the blood off of his face and stitched the wound shut above his eye. Kaya set his broken fingers and wrapped his arm the best she could with the bandages she had. Michael groaned in pain. She laid him on the cot and rubbed ointment into his shoulders. She knew they would be sore from being strung up for so long. She also put ointment on his wrists where he had rope burns. He again passed out from the pain and exhaustion. She took a wet cloth and wiped his hair from his face. She forgot to even be scared because she had grown to love this stranger. She kissed his lips softly and left before anyone noticed her.

Nikita sent her teams to pick up Jaakko and Halina Alekseer from the hotel they were staying at.

Having been successful at capturing them, when they arrived at Section, Nikita ordered them both to containment.

She spoke with Elijah and reminded him of the time constraints they were working under and waited for him to get his results.

Elijah had Halina moved to the Whiteroom for interrogation.

Elijah walked into the room with deliberate steps, squaring his shoulders and taking full advantage of the width of his broadness. He knew it was important as he walked towards Halina to appear confident and in control. He lifted her chin firmly so that her eyes would meet his intimidating glare.

"You will tell me what I want to know, if you want your father to live."

With a contemptuous attitude she smiled sardonically and said_," Do you think I would be so stupid to believe anything that you had to say? I know how this game works. I've been on your side of the chair probably more times than you have."_

"You are going to leave this place dead. What your body looks like when you leave is completely up to you.  
Tell me what I want to know and I will make you comfortable.  
Fight me on this and your father will pay severely for your defiance even before you do."

Helina spit in his face. Immediately Elijah backhanded her and sliced her cheek open from one of the stones in the ring he was wearing. Wiping the spit from his face he said, "I see that logic is not one of your strengths."  
Her cheek was already swelling and stinging with pain.  
"I want to know when and where the meetings for the pickup and delivery of the Pu-239 are taking place."

_She was momentarily silent_

He grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked her head back. While standing behind the chair and held a blade to her nose.  
"It's amazing how much pain the human body can tolerate before actually dying."  
He pressed the blade so it barely started to slice her skin.

She cried out. "_Stop, stop! Please, even if I wanted to tell you I can't. They have my sister."_

"Who has your sister?"

"_My younger sister Tanya was kidnapped this morning by Femin Al-Sistani. They contacted me earlier today and told me that she would be returned when our deal was finalized. It's their way of assuring that we will not double cross them by using their money for the purchase and disappearing with the plutonium. Neither I nor my father will ever betray my sister! You might as well kill me now. I will never help you!" _

Elijah gagged her mouth and walked around to face her. He squatted down to meet her at eye level.

"I am quite convinced that you will help me Halina." He said while cupping her breast. "I would hate to mess up such a pretty face." He caressed her wounded cheek. Sliding his other hand firmly up her thigh, he leaned over and licked the side of her neck. He could see the absolute terror in her emerald-green eyes.

"I think I will have a little talk with your father but if he doesn't see things my way, I am confident I can convince you to change your mind."

Elijah left the room.  
He was nauseated; he hated this part of his job. He was good at what he did because he had a natural intuition about people. He learned the art of studying people and he always got results. It was especially disgusting to him to have to treat a woman in such a demeaning manner.  
Even if Helina was a sociopath it made his skin crawl. He thought sexual intimidation was the lowest of all the methods he used to get a woman to break.  
He learned that in interrogating people they usually fold by just applying verbal pressure. For those that do not, most aren't equipped to resist torture for very long. But on the rare occasion that a woman wouldn't break using traditional methods, they would almost always cave under the threat of sexual violence.  
He had to remind himself that thousands of people could die from a nuclear bomb and he was responsible for getting the information they needed to save them all.  
He would wait for a little while and let Halina imagine the worst before going back to finish with her.

Nikita walked into Elijah's office.

"How is everything coming along? Do we have the information that we need to make the next phase happen?"

"No. Not yet. I need just a little more time."

"We don't have a lot of that to spare Elijah."

"Halina's younger sister has been kidnapped by Femin Al-Sistani and it has made their cooperation more difficult than I had anticipated."

"I hope you're up to the challenge Elijah. This mission has to be successful. There are too many lives depending on it."

"I'm aware of the urgency Nikita."

"I'm sorry Elijah, I know you are. Which one do you think will break first?"

"I haven't spoken to the father. I know he won't fold. He will protect his daughter, Tanya, even if he has to die to do it."

"How can you be sure?"

"Both Jaakko and Halina qualify as text-book case sociopaths. They manipulate, violate, lie, steal, and victimize. Just for criminal thrill and profit. They have no allegiance to any ideals or philosophies. They're not carrying out any religious or political agendas, and they have no feeling about thousands of people dying because of them. However, Tanya was off of Section's radar which means they both have gone through great lengths to keep her hidden, and safe, and out of the "family business." Her life and her goodness represent redemption for the both of them, especially the father. He won't give up anything if it means Tanya might die."

"And Halina?"

"She feels the same way, but she's not as strong as her father. She has a weakness too. She fears being raped. That's one of the reasons she stayed so close to the father and is addicted to ruthless power. She had a traumatic experience probably during early adolescence, and she has never been able to let it go."

"How did you find that out?"

"Nikita you read my profile. You gave me this job for my expertise at interpreting body language, facial stress, reading between the lines...

"Exploiting people's weaknesses?"

…...Yes, that too."

"It sounds like you have your work cut out for you. Elijah, I'm depending on you."

"Yeah, I know."  
As horrific as his job was, he knew that thousands of other people were depending on him too, even if they didn't know it.

Nikita left and was glad that she had Elijah to deal with the interrogation.

*  
Nikita was pleased that Elijah was able to obtain the information they needed for Section to try to stop the impending disaster. She understood the magnitude of the imminent threat that was lurking around the corner. This was truly an important mission. However, her reservations about working with Paul were starting to weigh on her nerves. She didn't trust him as a partner; in fact she didn't trust him at all. She believed her life was in danger, and not just with the hostiles. She was sure Paul would use any opportunity he could to rid himself of her, if he felt he could get away with it.

Paul and Nikita were being briefed by Elijah on the Intel that he procured from Halina. It was his belief that the next phase of the mission, would run smoothly. Especially since Adrik Grigorev was in a hurry to make the exchange happen and he had never actually seen Jaakko or Halina.  
The Al-Sistani cell had already taken extreme measures to protect their interest and see the deal through to fruition. They made that abundantly clear by risking the kidnapping of Tanya Alekseer. Elijah was confident that Femin Al-Sistani knew what Jaakko and Halina looked like and that Paul and Nikita would need some latex help to insure their ruse was a success.  
Elijah continued to explain how important it was that Paul and Nikita were absolutely convincing as father and daughter because there was no room for any inconsistencies. Al-Sistani would flee at the first sign of trouble.

While waiting for transport, Nikita felt awkward being next to Paul. She still was having a hard time believing that she was standing next to her father...her dad. She wanted desperately to scream out "You idiot! You don't even know that your own daughter is standing next to you." So much for oversight staying ahead of everyone. She wondered if she would ever tell him that Stephen was alive or use that information when she might need it later down the road. What was really bothering her was why did she even care if he knew about her or not. She hated him!

Paul was standing next to Nikita in transport about to go on their mission together. After everything he and Madeline had put her through, she survived...she survived all of it. As much as he despised her, he admired her strength and fortitude. She had the same kind of grit that got him through Vietnam. In some ways her stamina and determination reminded him of Madeline. The thought of that was surprising even to him. Nikita had endured and she had staying power. It took courage to do that in Section.

He thought about the mission and wondered if Nikita would use this opportunity to dispose of him. He finally decided that any personal vendetta she may have against him would be put aside, at least while the mission was on. She would always put the lives of the innocent first, of that he was sure. Many times he had loathed Nikita for breaking Section protocol. Time and time again her personal integrity interfered with the job, but now he was thankful for her one track mind, because he knew it would probably save his life.

Michael woke up from his pain induced sleep. Drenched with sweat his already weakened body was trying to fight the effects of shock.  
He inhaled deeply using breathing techniques to clear his mind and help control the pain.  
He needed to find a way out and soon. He was uncertain about his resolve to endure another round of interrogation.

Amid heard that Michael was awake.

"How are you doing my friend?"

_"I've been better."_

"Kaya told me what they did to you. I am surprised you are still with us. You are a very brave man."

"_Just determined."_

"Kaya is very sweet on you. She came to care for you last night. She risked her life to attend to you."

"_I'm grateful for what she did, but I don't want her to put herself in danger for me."_

"I told her that you would say that, but she would not listen to Amid."

"_Do you know how many guards are in this place?"_

"No, I have not been allowed to leave my cell and I was blind folded when they brought me here. I have seen the outside before and they have many guards, but I do not know about the inside."

"_Kaya is allowed to walk freely?"_

"Yes, She does many things here. She runs errands for the guards, she cooks and cleans. The guards also use her when they want her."

"_The guards use her?"_

"Yes, sadly. Her family was very, very poor and they sold Kaya so they could survive."

Michael's heart broke for Kaya, and all he could think about was his precious baby. He wondered if she was a girl. The thought of someone hurting her the way Kaya was being hurt was more than he could stand. He knew he couldn't leave her there if he found a way out.

He hoped he could speak to Kaya before they came for him again.

Paul and Nikita showed up at the warehouse where the drop off meeting was to take place. The two of them were on their own. They couldn't risk having back up teams and being found out.

Paul and Nikita were surprised when a beautiful young African girl showed up to meet them.

"Are you Jaakko and Halina?"

"_Yes, and you are?"_

"My name is Kaya and I have been instructed to make sure you are who you say you are. This must be done before you are allowed to meet with Solomon."

"_And how do you propose to do that?" asked Nikita._

"I am to take a sample of your blood."

Paul laughed and said, _"This is ridiculous. This was not part of our agreement."_

"I was told to tell you if you ever want to see your daughter,Tanya, alive again, than you will cooperate. The test will only take a little while to complete and if you are truly father and daughter, you will be brought to Solomon."

Kaya walked over to them with a small hand-held device. She pricked their fingers and then left.

"Well, I guess it's over Nikita, there is nothing more we can do here.

Paul started to walk away, but Nikita grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

She knew she had to tell him that he was her father or the mission was over and they might never have another chance to stop Femin Al-Sistani.

"_Paul we're not done here."_  
"Well unless you can manipulate genetic code, I would say this deal is over. They're clearly going to see our DNA is not a match with each other. So yeah, I think we're finished."

"_Paul I don't know how to tell you this but to just come out and say it. When they do the DNA testing it is going to show a match. "_

"How is that possible?"

"_Paul...You're my father."_

"Nikita have you lost your mind? Did they put that latex on just a little too tight?"

"_Paul just listen to me and don't interrupt until I am through. Agreed?"_

"Agreed," he answered hesitantly.

"_I found out a few months ago that Madeline was my mother and you were my father."_

Paul started laughing.

"_You agreed to not interrupt me."_

"I'm sorry," he said sarcastically. "Please by all means continue."

"_Madeline disappeared on a "Deep Cover" mission not to long after you started seeing each other. She was pregnant Paul, with your child. She knew you couldn't do anything to help her, Section would never allow it. After losing your family she didn't want you to have to bear another loss so she never told you. Someone from Center anonymously helped her. They arranged for her to give birth and made arrangements for the adoption of her babies._

"Babies as in plural?"

"_Yes. She had a boy and a girl."_

"So you're telling me that you were that girl."

"_Yeah, that's what I'm telling you. And Mick was the boy."_

"There is no way that Madeline would have had you submit to the Gelman process if that were true."

"_You agreed no interruptions Paul."_

"Go on."

"_Madeline was going to finally tell you the truth about everything, but Oversight got to her first or Center. Who knows really? But they made her go through the Gelman Process herself. That's why she was so cold, to you, to me, to everyone, even for Madeline. I noticed the change in her, and I'm sure you did too. I just didn't know why. When she first met me, she was kind to me Paul, but something changed her and now I know what that something was._"

Paul stood there with a strange expression on his face. His first instinct was to not believe a single word she was telling him.

His memories started pouring out like a movie playing in fast forward, every event, every conversation, every time he tried to reach out to Madeline. Putting things in perspective, everything that Nikita told him was actually making sense. How could he not have known?  
He finally concluded that she must be telling the truth or they wouldn't be waiting here for the Al-Sistani to return. He had spent so long hating her that he didn't know how to respond to her, to the news, to any of it.

"Well I hope you don't think that I am going to tuck you in at night and read you bedtime stories."

"_Ah, no." said, Nikita_

Paul continued to stare at he,r and for the first time in his life he had no idea what to do and he had no idea what to say.

"_Paul I might as well tell you while you're in shock that your son Stephen is still alive." Nikita knew she had nothing but Section left and felt there was no point in holding that information from Paul now._

"What? What the hell are you talking about Nikita? He's dead."

"_No Paul, he isn't. When I went on the U.N. Mission I ran into him. He is going by the name of Ryan Holt. He wanted everyone to believe he was dead because he was in a lot of trouble. More than he could handle."_

Paul sat on the floor. Leaning up against the wall he folded his arms across his knees and put his head down. Nikita could see that he was shaken up. She had never really seen Paul "emotional" when he wasn't under the influence of a psychotropic drug. She really didn't know what to say to him so she just walked away and gave him some space.

Nikita was sitting on a table in another room. She was thinking about her own life and trying to make some sense of it.

Paul composed himself and found Nikita.

"Why didn't you tell me about Stephen when you found out he was alive?"

"_Honestly, I was going to hold onto that information until I could use it on my behalf."_

"Section did teach you well, Nikita."

"_It must be a proud papa moment"_ she said mockingly.

"_I'm sorry Paul, I just wanted to...I just wanted to protect my..."_

"Baby." Paul answered.

"_How did you know?"_

"Nikita, you should know by now how it works around here."

"_Yeah, unfortunately I do."_

"Look Nikita we have to put all of this aside for now and focus on the mission. They should be coming back soon."

Kaya came by to check on Michael. She always felt more comfortable being around him when he wasn't awake. He made her feel nervous because she liked him so much.

"_I brought you a little food. You must keep up your strength," said Kaya._

"Thank you. Kaya, do you know how many guards are in this building?"

_"Sometimes three, sometimes four, but on the outside they usually have about eight."_

"How big is this place?"

"_There are ten cell rooms about the same size as your room. They have two rooms that they use for sleeping and a very small kitchen. There is a big, big room that they keep their weapons in and the room they use to hurt and kill people."_

"That's good Kaya. Can you tell me how many exits there are?"

"_There is only one way in and out of here and it is very heavily guarded on the inside and the out and they keep the door locked."_

"Do you have keys?"

"_No, they only give me keys to the cell rooms so I can feed the prisoners and empty the buckets."_

"Kaya can you get the key that goes to the outside?"

"_Oh no, I cannot, Solomon would be very angry with me and he would beat me very badly if I was caught."_

Kaya turned around and slipped her plain white oversized dress off of her shoulders to show Michael the scars she had on her back from incurring the wrath of Solomon.

"_When he first bought me he acted so nice to my father and said he would give me a good life and take care of me. After he let his soldiers have their way with me, I tried to escape, but he took me to that horrible room and beat me. I cannot help you Michael. I am very sorry." _She had tears in her eyes and looked down at the floor and ran out of the room before Michael could say anything more.

Paul and Nikita waited at the warehouse for the go ahead to meet with Solomon from Femin Al-Sistani.

Part of Paul and Nikita's plan for the mission consisted of making sure Solomon was actually on site in the compound. They would then alert com when they had a visual confirmation of him being there. Once that visual was confirmed, the order would be given for a slightly delayed missile strike. It was up to Paul and Nikita to extract themselves from the compound before the launch against Al-Sistani took place. They would have thirty minutes to vacate the premises. Once the order was given to strike it would not be rescinded for any reason.

Nikita had already made the decision to save Tanya from the compound if she could. She knew she was an"innocent" and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't at least try to rescue her.  
She never mentioned her objective to Paul regarding Tanya because she knew his standard protocol answer would be "She is acceptable collateral damage." Blah, blah, blah same song different mission. She knew she couldn't win that argument with him so she just kept her plans to herself.

Paul and Nikita were both on edge. Their hand guns and a small low grade explosive that was hidden in a lipstick tube was all they were going in with.  
They knew they were no match for the firepower that the hostiles had at their disposal. It was going to take their collective cooperation and skill if they had any chance to survive this mission.

Kaya returned to the warehouse to take "Jaakko" and "Halina" to the compound where their contact Solomon was staying. Once they were there they patted them down and took their weapons from them.  
Kaya escorted them to a cell and gave them instructions to wait for Solomon.

Solomon greeted them and said, "I hope your ride here was most comfortable."

Nikita, posing as Helina asked, "_Where is my sister, Tanya?"_

"She is in a room down the hall from here."

"_You better not have harmed her in any way or..."_

Solomon interrupted before she could finish.

"We are all friends here Halina, do not ruin what is the start of a beautiful business relationship with threatening undertones. Come Jaakko lets you and I discuss the business at hand."

Nikita was left alone in the locked cell. She let com know that Solomon was indeed in the compound.

Nikita got to work right away. She used her lipstick tube to blow the lock off the cell door. Even though it was a low grade explosive it got the attention of one of the guards.

Nikita waited behind the door until he came into the room. She gave him a front kick to the back of his head and landed a devastating blow. He stumbled forward and turned around with his gun pointed. Nikita gave a mid roundhouse kick and knocked the gun from his hand. She finished him with a palm heel strike to the face and he collapsed to the floor. She quickly picked up his gun and headed out the door. Kaya was standing in front of her and she had almost pulled the trigger.

"_Where is the girl Tanya?" _

Kaya pointed down the hall. Nikita was about to take off toward Tanya when Kaya told her to wait.  
She handed Nikita the key to the cells.

Nikita asked, _"Where are the other guards?"_

"Two of them are with your father and Solomon in the bad room. There are eight of them outside."

Nikita told Kaya to _"Get out now!"_

"I cannot go. The guards will stop me. I am not allowed to just leave whenever I want to."

"_Kaya, do you know where they keep their weapons?"_

"Yes."

"_Can you bring some to me?"_

"I will try."

"Go now Kaya and hurry!"

Nikita opened the first door she came to and nobody was in the room. She opened the next one and there was an African man standing against the wall. She told him if he wanted to live he had to leave the room and go with her now.

She opened the next room and she couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. He was thinner and he had a scruffy beard, but she could never mistake those beautiful piercing eyes. It was Michael, her beloved Michael.

"_Oh God! Michael how...? What are you doing here?"_

Michael looked a little puzzled. He knew the voice that was speaking was Nikita's but she looked... and then it hit him, she was wearing latex.

He had difficulty standing up. She ran to him. _"Oh my God Michael, what did they do to you?"_

"I'm okay Nikita; I look a lot worse than I am."

"_God I hope so"_ She said with a mixture of pain and joy in her voice.

He stared at her not able to speak. He never thought he would see her again.

She stared at him reflecting the exact same thought.

"The baby Nikita, what happen to our baby?"

Nikita heard yelling on her com. Solomon told his guards to string Paul up.

Michael we don't have much time, I will explain later. There is a missile strike on its way and we have to get out.

Amid came in to help Michael walk out.

Nikita made sure the hallway was clear and she opened the next door. There was a young girl sitting on the cot.

"_Tanya?"_

"Helina!" She screamed.

"_Tanya, I can't explain everything right now, but I am here to help you. I am not Helina. I just look like her."_

"I don't understand."

"_If you want to live you will stay quiet and follow me."_

Nikita heard through her com unit that Paul was being hit repeatedly. Solomon was asking where the Plutonium was.

"If you want to see your daughters alive again, you will tell me where the Pu-239 is," said Solomon.

"_I told you it is close by. We just wanted to make sure you had our money."_

"Where close by?

_Paul was silent_

"Let's see how quiet you are when I **cut** your eye out!"

Nikita told everyone to meet her at the exit. Michael said he wasn't leaving without her.

"_Michael I have to get Paul."_

"Paul, who?"

"_Paul, Operation's Paul…Oversight Paul."_

"Nikita leave him here, you don't owe him anything. Time is running out we have to get out of here"

"_I can't explain it right now but I have to get him. I will meet you at the exit. Please don't argue with me, you just said it yourself we don't have a lot of time."_

Just then Kaya came running around the corner and she had as many guns as her arms could carry. Nikita tucked another gun into the waist band of her pants and she gave one to Michael.

She asked Amid, _"Do you know how to shoot?"_

"Of course friend, I am a soldier."

"_Good take this and help everyone get to the exit."_

Solomon had the blade to Paul's eye when Nikita dropped one of the guards. The other guard was locked on her. Solomon dropped the blade and reached for his gun. The guard was about to shoot when Nikita put a bullet dead center in his heart. Solomon had Nikita in his sights but before he could pull the trigger, Paul wrapped his legs around Solomon's neck. He continued to squeeze until Solomon passed out.

Nikita helped Paul down and he said, _"That was close."_

"A little too close if you ask me, you must be slipping." Nikita rolled her eyes and finished untying him.

When Nikita fired the shots that killed the guards the noise alerted the other guards on duty outside.  
Nikita and Paul were running to meet the others at the exit.

The door flung open and Michael shot the first guard. Another one came behind him and Amid fired at him.

Paul and Nikita were with them now. Paul took point and went out of the door first and from the roof of another building a guard shot Paul hitting him in the shoulder. Nikita took out Paul's shooter. Nikita was hit by a bullet on the top of her thigh she fell down and rolled away. Michael and she hit her shooter at the exact same time.  
Kaya ran over to Nikita and helped her up. Nikita looked at her watch and shouted they had two minutes until impact. There was a five foot brick wall that they needed to clear and Nikita ordered Tanya and Kaya to climb over it. Amid was helping the girls over while Paul was covering everybody's retreat. Amid helped Michael over too. It was difficult with his broken arm but he made it over. Nikita told Amid to get over to the other side, they didn't have much time. Paul shot another guard. Nikita screamed for Paul to move out and covered him from the top of the wall. As Paul was going over the fence another guard came and Nikita took him out. As soon as she jumped from the wall they ran towards the trees. Moments later the missile attack began. They all hit the ground with a thud and covered their ears.

Tanya was screaming, "We're going to die, we're all going to die!"

Nikita told her to, _"shut up," _Crying even more now Tanya told Nikita that she couldn't stop because she was scared. Nikita told her that she was safe now and to stop it before she gave her a reason to cry.  
Paul smirked. The thought of Nikita getting angry with a non-hostile for being scared just seemed a little too ironic to him.  
Nikita and Paul removed their latex disguises. Kaya gasped.  
"It's alright Kaya, see it is not real." Nikita handed her the masks. Kaya was shocked and surprised. She said, "I have never seen such a thing in all of my days.

Nikita's leg was bleeding pretty badly. It looked as if the bullet had passed through her leg. Michael began to put pressure on her thigh and Paul grabbed his belt and wrapped it tightly around her wound to help stop the flow of blood. Michael couldn't believe what he was seeing transpire between both Paul and Nikita. Silently he waited, wondered and observed.  
"Paul is your shoulder o.k.?" asked, Nikita. "Yeah, it was just grazed."

Michael asked Amid if he would be able to get home without help and if he would be willing to take Kaya with him.  
"Of course my friend, getting home is no problem and I would like to take care of Kaya very much. You do not have to worry she will be safe with me"  
Michael could tell that Amid cared for Kaya deeply and he was glad she would finally be safe.

Kaya walked up to Michael and gave him a gentle hug around his neck. She told him_, "You are a very handsome man and your woman Nikita is very beautiful and I hope you both will be very happy together now that you have found each other again."_

Nikita raised her eyebrows as if to say what's that all about?

Michael smiled and told Kaya, "Thank you for everything you did to help me."

Amid told Michael,"May we meet again my friend and if not in this life then on the other side of the deep river."

With that being said, Amid and Kaya left.

"Nikita transport will be here any minute," Paul said.  
_"I'm not going back Paul."  
_"I figured as much, I can give you a good head start, but you know that Center will never leave you guys alone."

Nikita heard the helicopter coming. _"_Paul, please tell Walter and Birkoff goodbye for me."  
"I will."  
Nikita stood up and Paul helped Michael to his feet. Nikita limped over to Paul and said, _"Don't expect any stupid cards or ugly ties on Father's Day."_

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Nikita gave him a quick half hug then turned around and walked away with Michael towards the tree line.  
********

Michael and Nikita stayed for a while in a very beautiful part of Africa.

Their physical wounds were healing and their broken hearts were mending.  
Their love for each other seemed to be as ancient and vast as the landscape around them.  
They moved together in perfect rhythm like the beat of the African drums and their passion was hotter than the Sahara Desert.  
Like a warm tropical rain, the healing qualities of their love were as mysterious as the secrets of the jungle.  
As a lion and lioness that rule together, they were finally masters of their own fate. They would hunt, kill and destroy anything or anyone that would ever try to separate them from each other ever again.

Under the African night sky, millions of stars witnessed their union as they pledged heart, body, and soul to one another now and forever in this life and in the next.


End file.
